Negative permeability from random particle composites

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hussain, Shahid, E-mail: shussain2@qinetiq.com

2017-04-15

Artificial media, such as those composed of periodically-spaced wires for negative permittivity and split ring resonators for negative permeability have been extensively investigated for negative refractive index (NRI) applications (Smith et al., 2004; Pendry et al., 1999) [1,2]. This paper presents an alternative method for producing negative permeability: granular (or particulate) composites incorporating magnetic fillers. Artificial media, such as split-ring resonators, are designed to produce a magnetic resonance feature, which results in negative permeability over a narrow frequency range about the resonance frequency. The position of the feature is dependent upon the size of the inclusion. The material in this case is anisotropic, such that the feature is only observable when the materials are orientated in a specific direction relative to the applied field. A similar resonance can be generated in magnetic granular (particulate) materials: ferromagnetic resonance from the natural spin resonance of particles. Although the theoretical resonance profiles in granular composites shows the permeability dipping to negative values, this is rarely observed experimentally due to resonance damping effects. Results are presented for iron in spherical form and in flake form, dispersed in insulating host matrices. The two particle shapes show different permeability performance, with the magnetic flakes producing a negative contribution. This is attributed to the stronger coupling with the magnetic field resulting from the high aspect ratio of the flakes. The accompanying ferromagnetic resonance is strong enough to overcome the effects of damping and produce negative permeability. The size of random particle composites is not dictated by the wavelength of the applied field, so the materials are potentially much thinner than other, more traditional artificial composites at microwave frequencies. - Highlights: • Negative permeability from random particle composites is

Evaluation of Life Events in Major Depression: Assessing Negative Emotional Bias.

Science.gov (United States)

Girz, Laura; Driver-Linn, Erin; Miller, Gregory A; Deldin, Patricia J

2017-05-01

Overly negative appraisals of negative life events characterize depression but patterns of emotion bias associated with life events in depression are not well understood. The goal of this paper is to determine under which situations emotional responses are stronger than expected given life events and which emotions are biased. Depressed (n = 16) and non-depressed (n = 14) participants (mean age = 41.4 years) wrote about negative life events involving their own actions and inactions, and rated the current emotion elicited by those events. They also rated emotions elicited by someone else's actions and inactions. These ratings were compared with evaluations provided by a second, 'benchmark' group of non-depressed individuals (n = 20) in order to assess the magnitude and direction of possible biased emotional reactions in the two groups. Participants with depression reported greater anger and disgust than expected in response to both actions and inactions, whereas they reported greater guilt, shame, sadness, responsibility and fear than expected in response to inactions. Relative to non-depressed and benchmark participants, depressed participants were overly negative in the evaluation of their own life events, but not the life events of others. A standardized method for establishing emotional bias reveals a pattern of overly negative emotion only in depressed individuals' self-evaluations, and in particular with respect to anger and disgust, lending support to claims that major depressives' evaluations represent negative emotional bias and to clinical interventions that address this bias. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Associations between maternal negative affect and adolescent's neural response to peer evaluation

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Patricia Z. Tan

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Parenting is often implicated as a potential source of individual differences in youths’ emotional information processing. The present study examined whether parental affect is related to an important aspect of adolescent emotional development, response to peer evaluation. Specifically, we examined relations between maternal negative affect, observed during parent–adolescent discussion of an adolescent-nominated concern with which s/he wants parental support, and adolescent neural responses to peer evaluation in 40 emotionally healthy and depressed adolescents. We focused on a network of ventral brain regions involved in affective processing of social information: the amygdala, anterior insula, nucleus accumbens, and subgenual anterior cingulate, as well as the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. Maternal negative affect was not associated with adolescent neural response to peer rejection. However, longer durations of maternal negative affect were associated with decreased responsivity to peer acceptance in the amygdala, left anterior insula, subgenual anterior cingulate, and left nucleus accumbens. These findings provide some of the first evidence that maternal negative affect is associated with adolescents’ neural processing of social rewards. Findings also suggest that maternal negative affect could contribute to alterations in affective processing, specifically, dampening the saliency and/or reward of peer interactions during adolescence.

Prospects for stronger calandria tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ells, C.E.; Coleman, C.E.; Hosbons, R.R.; Ibrahim, E.F.; Doubt, G.L.

1990-12-01

The CANDU calandria tubes, made of seam welded and annealed Zircaloy-2, have given exemplary service in-reactor. Although not designed as a system pressure containment, calandria tubes may remain intact even in the face of pressure tube rupture. One such incident at Pickering Unit 2 demonstrated the economic advantage of such an outcome, and a case can be made for increasing the probability that other calandria tubes would perform in a similar fashion. Various methods of obtaining stronger calandria tubes are available, and reviewed here. When the tubes are internally pressurized, the weld is the weak section of the tube. Increasing the oxygen concentration in the starting sheet, and thickening the weld, are promising routes to a stronger tube

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor signaling modulates antiviral immune responses: ligand metabolism rather than chemical source is the stronger predictor of outcome.

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Boule, Lisbeth A; Burke, Catherine G; Jin, Guang-Bi; Lawrence, B Paige

2018-01-29

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) offers a compelling target to modulate the immune system. AHR agonists alter adaptive immune responses, but the consequences differ across studies. We report here the comparison of four agents representing different sources of AHR ligands in mice infected with influenza A virus (IAV): TCDD, prototype exogenous AHR agonist; PCB126, pollutant with documented human exposure; ITE, novel pharmaceutical; and FICZ, degradation product of tryptophan. All four compounds diminished virus-specific IgM levels and increased the proportion of regulatory T cells. TCDD, PCB126 and ITE, but not FICZ, reduced virus-specific IgG levels and CD8 + T cell responses. Similarly, ITE, PCB126, and TCDD reduced Th1 and Tfh cells, whereas FICZ increased their frequency. In Cyp1a1-deficient mice, all compounds, including FICZ, reduced the response to IAV. Conditional Ahr knockout mice revealed that all four compounds require AHR within hematopoietic cells. Thus, differences in the immune response to IAV likely reflect variances in quality, magnitude, and duration of AHR signaling. This indicates that binding affinity and metabolism may be stronger predictors of immune effects than a compound's source of origin, and that harnessing AHR will require finding a balance between dampening immune-mediated pathologies and maintaining sufficient host defenses against infection.

Do you remember your sad face? The roles of negative cognitive style and sad mood.

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Caudek, Corrado; Monni, Alessandra

2013-01-01

We studied the effects of negative cognitive style, sad mood, and facial affect on the self-face advantage in a sample of 66 healthy individuals (mean age 26.5 years, range 19-47 years). The sample was subdivided into four groups according to inferential style and responsivity to sad mood induction. Following a sad mood induction, we examined the effect on working memory of an incidental association between facial affect, facial identity, and head-pose orientation. Overall, head-pose recognition was more accurate for the self-face than for nonself face (self-face advantage, SFA). However, participants high in negative cognitive style who experienced higher levels of sadness displayed a stronger SFA for sad expressions than happy expressions. The remaining participants displayed an opposite bias (a stronger SFA for happy expressions than sad expressions), or no bias. These findings highlight the importance of trait-vulnerability status in the working memory biases related to emotional facial expressions.

Negative affect and neural response to palatable food intake in bulimia nervosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Bohon, Cara; Stice, Eric

2012-06-01

Binge eating is often preceded by reports of negative affect, but the mechanism by which affect may lead to binge eating is unclear. This study evaluated the effect of negative affect on neural response to anticipation and receipt of palatable food in women with bulimia nervosa (BN) versus healthy controls. We also evaluated connectivity between the amygdala and reward-related brain regions. Females with and without BN (n=26) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during receipt and anticipated receipt of chocolate milkshake and a tasteless solution. We measured negative affect just prior to the scan. Women with BN showed a positive correlation between negative affect and activity in the putamen, caudate, and pallidum during anticipated receipt of milkshake (versus tasteless solution). There were no significant relations between negative affect and receipt of milkshake. Connectivity analyses revealed a greater relation of amygdala activity to activation in the left putamen and insula during anticipated receipt of milkshake in the bulimia group relative to the control group. The opposite pattern was found for the taste of milkshake; the control group showed a greater relation of amygdala activity to activation in the left putamen and insula in response to milkshake receipt than the bulimia group. Results show that as negative affect increases, so does responsivity of reward regions to anticipated intake of palatable food, implying that negative affect may increase the reward value of food for individuals with bulimia nervosa or that negative affect has become a conditioned cue due to a history of binge eating in a negative mood. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The negativity bias predicts response rate to Behavioral Activation for depression.

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Gollan, Jackie K; Hoxha, Denada; Hunnicutt-Ferguson, Kallio; Norris, Catherine J; Rosebrock, Laina; Sankin, Lindsey; Cacioppo, John

2016-09-01

This treatment study investigated the extent to which asymmetric dimensions of affective responding, specifically the positivity offset and the negativity bias, at pretreatment altered the rate of response to Behavioral Activation treatment for depression. Forty-one depressed participants were enrolled into 16 weekly sessions of BA. An additional 36 lifetime healthy participants were evaluated prospectively for 16 weeks to compare affective responding between healthy and remitted patients at post-treatment. All participants were assessed at Weeks 0, 8 and 16 using repeated measures, involving a structured clinical interview for DSM-IV Axis I disorders, questionnaires, and a computerized task designed to measure affective responses to unpleasant, neutral, and pleasant images. The negativity bias at pre-treatment predicted the rate of response to BA, while the positivity offset did not. Only one treatment condition was used in this study and untreated depressed participants were not enrolled, limiting our ability to compare the effect of BA. Baseline negativity bias may serve as a signal for patients to engage in and benefit from the goal-directed BA strategies, thereby accelerating rate of response. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Children's expressions of negative emotions and adults' responses during routine cardiac consultations.

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Vatne, Torun M; Ruland, Cornelia M; Ørnes, Knut; Finset, Arnstein

2012-03-01

One function of expressing emotion is to receive support. The aim of this study was to assess how children with heart disease express negative emotions during routine consultations, and examine the interaction between children's expressions and adults' responses. Seventy children, aged 7-13 years, completed measures of anxiety and were videotaped during cardiology visits. Adult-child interactions were analyzed using the Verona Definitions of Emotional Sequences. Children expressed negative emotion, mainly in subtle ways; however, adults rarely recognized and responded to these expressions. The frequency of children's expressions and adults' responses were related to the child's age, level of anxiety, and verbal participation. Children do not openly express negative emotions frequently during routine cardiac consultations; they are more likely to provide subtle cues of negative emotion. When expression of negative emotions does occur, adults may consider using the opportunity to explore the child's emotional experiences.

A non-linear association between self-reported negative emotional response to stress and subsequent allostatic load

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dich, Nadya; Doan, Stacey N; Kivimäki, Mika

2014-01-01

dysregulation. Allostatic load also increased with age, but the association between negative emotional response and allostatic load remained stable over time. These results provide evidence for a more nuanced understanding of the role of negative emotions in long-term physical health....... response to major life events and allostatic load, a multisystem indicator of physiological dysregulation. Study sample was 6764 British civil service workers from the Whitehall II cohort. Negative emotional response was assessed by self-report at baseline. Allostatic load was calculated using...... cardiovascular, metabolic and immune function biomarkers at three clinical follow-up examinations. A non-linear association between negative emotional response and allostatic load was observed: being at either extreme end of the distribution of negative emotional response increased the risk of physiological...

Female Psychology in August Strindberg’s The Stronger

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Anton Sutandio

2017-11-01

Full Text Available This research aimed to offer interpretations of August Strindberg’s The Stronger through the lens of female psychology. The Stronger is unique as it seemed very simple yet so intense and powerful with layers of interpretations. Written during 1888-1889, The Stronger, which only had two characters and only one speaking character, had become one of Strindberg’s shortest yet important plays during his career. The female psychology approach used in the analysis would cover the discussion of gender role, women’s self-esteem, competition for males, women’s friendships, ego style, and female psychology. It was an interdisciplinary research that combined structuralist, historical, biographical, and feminist approach to gain a better interpretation on the play. By referring to three different sources on the concept of female psychology, the analysis offered different and interesting interpretations on the nature and dynamics of the two female characters’ relationship. The Stronger has shown an enigmatic attraction in Strindberg’s authorship in which the readers could see the co-existence, collision, conflict, and merge of different paradigms concerning sex, gender, and sexuality.

How Do Politicians Attribute Bureaucratic Responsibility for Performance? Negativity Bias and Interest Group Advocacy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Poul A.; Moynihan, Donald P.

2017-01-01

Voters reward or punish politicians by deeming them responsible for positive and negative outcomes, but how, in turn, do politicians attribute responsibility to those who actually deliver public services? Inattention to this question renders incomplete current perspectives on democratic processes...... to attribute causal responsibility to bureaucratic leaders, but only in cases of low performance, suggesting a negativity bias in public sector responsibility attribution processes. Additionally, we offer evidence that interest group advocates influence how elected officials use performance information...... to attribute responsibility, but contingent on ideological alignment....

Trait differences in responses to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are stronger and more consistent than fixed differences among populations of Asclepias speciosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Waller, Lauren P; Hahn, Philip G; Maron, John L; Lekberg, Ylva

2018-02-01

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi can promote plant growth and reproduction, but other plant physiological traits or traits that provide defense against herbivores can also be affected by AM fungi. However, whether responses of different traits to AM fungi are correlated and whether these relationships vary among plants from different populations are unresolved. In a common garden experiment, we grew Asclepias speciosa plants from seed collected from populations found along an environmental gradient with and without AM fungi to assess whether the responses of six growth and defense traits to AM fungi are correlated. Although there was strong genetic differentiation in mean trait values among populations, AM fungi consistently increased expression of most growth and defense traits across all populations. Responses of biomass and root to shoot ratio to AM fungi were positively correlated, suggesting that plants that are more responsive to AM fungi allocated more biomass belowground. Responses of biomass and trichome density to AM fungi were negatively correlated, indicating a trade-off in responsiveness between a growth and defensive trait. Our results suggest that while there is substantial population differentiation in many traits of A. speciosa, populations respond similarly to AM fungi, and both positive and negative correlations among trait responses occur. © 2018 Botanical Society of America.

Gas Marbles: Much Stronger than Liquid Marbles

Science.gov (United States)

Timounay, Yousra; Pitois, Olivier; Rouyer, Florence

2017-06-01

Enwrapping liquid droplets with hydrophobic particles allows the manufacture of so-called "liquid marbles" [Aussillous and Quéré Nature (London) 411, 924 (2001); , 10.1038/35082026Mahadevan Nature (London)411, 895 (2001), 10.1038/35082164]. The recent intensive research devoted to liquid marbles is justified by their very unusual physical and chemical properties and by their potential for various applications, from microreactors to water storage, including water pollution sensors [Bormashenko Curr. Opin. Colloid Interface Sci. 16, 266 (2011), 10.1016/j.cocis.2010.12.002]. Here we demonstrate that this concept can be successfully applied for encapsulating and protecting small gas pockets within an air environment. Similarly to their liquid counterparts, those new soft-matter objects, that we call "gas marbles," can sustain external forces. We show that gas marbles are surprisingly tenfold stronger than liquid marbles and, more importantly, they can sustain both positive and negative pressure differences. This magnified strength is shown to originate from the strong cohesive nature of the shell. Those interesting properties could be exploited for imprisoning valuable or polluted gases or for designing new aerated materials.

Marital conflict and parental responses to infant negative emotions: Relations with toddler emotional regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Frankel, Leslie A; Umemura, Tomo; Jacobvitz, Deborah; Hazen, Nancy

2015-08-01

According to family systems theory, children's emotional development is likely to be influenced by family interactions at multiple levels, including marital, mother-child, and father-child interactions, as well as by interrelations between these levels. The purpose of the present study was to examine parents' marital conflict and mothers' and fathers' distressed responses to their infant's negative emotions, assessed when their child was 8 and 24 months old, in addition to interactions between parents' marital conflict and their distressed responses, as predictors of their toddler's negative and flat/withdrawn affect at 24 months. Higher marital conflict during infancy and toddlerhood predicted both increased negative and increased flat/withdrawn affect during toddlerhood. In addition, toddlers' negative (but not flat) affect was related to mothers' distressed responses, but was only related to father's distressed responses when martial conflict was high. Implications of this study for parent education and family intervention were discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sinoatrial tissue of crucian carp heart has only negative contractile responses to autonomic agonists

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Hälinen Mervi

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In the anoxia-tolerant crucian carp (Carassius carassius cardiac activity varies according to the seasons. To clarify the role of autonomic nervous control in modulation of cardiac activity, responses of atrial contraction and heart rate (HR to carbacholine (CCh and isoprenaline (Iso were determined in fish acclimatized to winter (4°C, cold-acclimated, CA and summer (18°C, warm-acclimated, WA temperatures. Results Inhibitory action of CCh was much stronger on atrial contractility than HR. CCh reduced force of atrial contraction at an order of magnitude lower concentrations (EC50 2.75-3.5·10-8 M in comparison to its depressive effect on HR (EC50 1.23-2.02·10-7 M (P -8 M and 10-7 M CCh, respectively (P + current, IK,CCh, with an EC50 value of 3-4.5·10-7 M and inhibited Ca2+ current (ICa by 28 ± 8% and 51 ± 6% at 10-7 M and 10-6 M, respectively. These currents can explain the shortening of AP. Iso did not elicit any responses in crucian carp sinoatrial preparations nor did it have any effect on atrial ICa, probably due to the saturation of the β-adrenergic cascade in the basal state. Conclusion In the crucian carp, HR and force of atrial contraction show cardio-depressive responses to the cholinergic agonist, but do not have any responses to the β-adrenergic agonist. The scope of inhibitory regulation by CCh is increased by the high basal tone of the adenylate cyclase-cAMP cascade. Higher concentrations of CCh were required to induce IK,CCh and inhibit ICa than was needed for CCh's negative inotropic effect on atrial muscle suggesting that neither IK,CCh nor ICa alone can mediate CCh's actions but they might synergistically reduce AP duration and atrial force production. Autonomic responses were similar in CA winter fish and WA summer fish indicating that cardiac sensitivity to external modulation by the autonomic nervous system is not involved in seasonal acclimatization of the crucian carp heart to cold and anoxic

Negative reciprocity and retrenched pension rights

OpenAIRE

Montizaan, R.M.; Cörvers, F.; de Grip, A.; Dohmen, T.J.

2012-01-01

We document the importance of negatively reciprocal inclinations in labor relationships by showing that a retrenchment of pension rights, which is perceived as unfair, causes a larger reduction in job motivation the stronger workers' negatively reciprocal inclinations are. We exploit unique matched survey and administrative data on male employees in the public sector in the Netherlands and compare the job motivation of employees born in 1950, who faced a substantial retrenchment of their pens...

Automatic Change Detection to Facial Expressions in Adolescents: Evidence from Visual Mismatch Negativity Responses

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Tongran eLiu

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Adolescence is a critical period for the neurodevelopment of social-emotional processing, wherein the automatic detection of changes in facial expressions is crucial for the development of interpersonal communication. Two groups of participants (an adolescent group and an adult group were recruited to complete an emotional oddball task featuring on happy and one fearful condition. The measurement of event-related potential (ERP was carried out via electroencephalography (EEG and electrooculography (EOG recording, to detect visual mismatch negativity (vMMN with regard to the automatic detection of changes in facial expressions between the two age groups. The current findings demonstrated that the adolescent group featured more negative vMMN amplitudes than the adult group in the fronto-central region during the 120-200 ms interval. During the time window of 370-450 ms, only the adult group showed better automatic processing on fearful faces than happy faces. The present study indicated that adolescents posses stronger automatic detection of changes in emotional expression relative to adults, and sheds light on the neurodevelopment of automatic processes concerning social-emotional information.

Negativity Bias in Dangerous Drivers.

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Jing Chai

Full Text Available The behavioral and cognitive characteristics of dangerous drivers differ significantly from those of safe drivers. However, differences in emotional information processing have seldom been investigated. Previous studies have revealed that drivers with higher anger/anxiety trait scores are more likely to be involved in crashes and that individuals with higher anger traits exhibit stronger negativity biases when processing emotions compared with control groups. However, researchers have not explored the relationship between emotional information processing and driving behavior. In this study, we examined the emotional information processing differences between dangerous drivers and safe drivers. Thirty-eight non-professional drivers were divided into two groups according to the penalty points that they had accrued for traffic violations: 15 drivers with 6 or more points were included in the dangerous driver group, and 23 drivers with 3 or fewer points were included in the safe driver group. The emotional Stroop task was used to measure negativity biases, and both behavioral and electroencephalograph data were recorded. The behavioral results revealed stronger negativity biases in the dangerous drivers than in the safe drivers. The bias score was correlated with self-reported dangerous driving behavior. Drivers with strong negativity biases reported having been involved in mores crashes compared with the less-biased drivers. The event-related potentials (ERPs revealed that the dangerous drivers exhibited reduced P3 components when responding to negative stimuli, suggesting decreased inhibitory control of information that is task-irrelevant but emotionally salient. The influence of negativity bias provides one possible explanation of the effects of individual differences on dangerous driving behavior and traffic crashes.

The Educational Program "Zajedno Jaci" (Stronger Together) in Croatia

Science.gov (United States)

Spanja, Sanja

2011-01-01

In this paper, we explore intercultural learning undertaken through the educational program "Stronger Together." The program "Stronger Together" was created in 1998 in order to support and educate teachers working with children in post-war regions of Croatia using intercultural education and cooperative learning as tools for…

Stronger synergies

CERN Multimedia

Antonella Del Rosso

2012-01-01

CERN was founded 58 years ago under the auspices of UNESCO. Since then, both organisations have grown to become world leaders in their respective fields. The links between the two have always existed but today they are even stronger, with new projects under way to develop a more efficient way of exchanging information and devise a common strategy on topics of mutual interest.   CERN and UNESCO are a perfect example of natural partners: their common field is science and education is one of the pillars on which both are built. Historically, they share a common heritage. Both UNESCO and CERN were born of the desire to use scientific cooperation to rebuild peace and security in the aftermath of the Second World War. "Recently, building on our common roots and in close collaboration with UNESCO, we have been developing more structured links to ensure the continuity of the actions taken over the years," says Maurizio Bona, who is in charge of CERN relations with international orga...

Amygdala response to negative images in postpartum vs nulliparous women and intranasal oxytocin.

Science.gov (United States)

Rupp, Heather A; James, Thomas W; Ketterson, Ellen D; Sengelaub, Dale R; Ditzen, Beate; Heiman, Julia R

2014-01-01

The neuroendocrine state of new mothers may alter their neural processing of stressors in the environment through modulatory actions of oxytocin on the limbic system. We predicted that amygdala sensitivity to negatively arousing stimuli would be suppressed in postpartum compared to nulliparous women and that this suppression would be modulated by administration of oxytocin nasal spray. We measured brain activation (fMRI) and subjective arousal in response to negatively arousing pictures in 29 postpartum and 30 nulliparous women who received either oxytocin nasal spray or placebo before scanning. Pre- and post-exposure urinary cortisol levels were also measured. Postpartum women (placebo) demonstrated lower right amygdala activation in response to negative images, lower cortisol and lower negative photo arousal ratings to nulliparous women. Nulliparous women receiving oxytocin had lower right amygdala activation compared to placebo. Cortisol levels in the placebo group, and ratings of arousal across all women, were positively associated with right amygdala activation. Together, these findings demonstrate reductions in both amygdala activation and subjective negative arousal in untreated postpartum vs nulliparous women, supporting the hypothesis of an attenuated neural response to arousing stimuli in postpartum women. A causal role of oxytocin and the timing of potential effects require future investigation.

Predatory blue crabs induce stronger nonconsumptive effects in eastern oysters Crassostrea virginica than scavenging blue crabs

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Avery E. Scherer

2017-02-01

Full Text Available By influencing critical prey traits such as foraging or habitat selection, predators can affect entire ecosystems, but the nature of cues that trigger prey reactions to predators are not well understood. Predators may scavenge to supplement their energetic needs and scavenging frequency may vary among individuals within a species due to preferences and prey availability. Yet prey reactions to consumers that are primarily scavengers versus those that are active foragers have not been investigated, even though variation in prey reactions to scavengers or predators might influence cascading nonconsumptive effects in food webs. Oysters Crassostrea virginica react to crab predators by growing stronger shells. We exposed oysters to exudates from crabs fed live oysters or fed aged oyster tissue to simulate scavenging, and to controls without crab cues. Oysters grew stronger shells when exposed to either crab exudate, but their shells were significantly stronger when crabs were fed live oysters. The stronger response to predators than scavengers could be due to inherent differences in diet cues representative of reduced risk in the presence of scavengers or to degradation of conspecific alarm cues in aged treatments, which may mask risk from potential predators subsisting by scavenging.

Negative emotions in cancer care: do oncologists' responses depend on severity and type of emotion?

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Kennifer, Sarah L; Alexander, Stewart C; Pollak, Kathryn I; Jeffreys, Amy S; Olsen, Maren K; Rodriguez, Keri L; Arnold, Robert M; Tulsky, James A

2009-07-01

To examine how type and severity of patients' negative emotions influence oncologists' responses and subsequent conversations. We analyzed 264 audio-recorded conversations between advanced cancer patients and their oncologists. Conversations were coded for patients' expressions of negative emotion, which were categorized by type of emotion and severity. Oncologists' responses were coded as using either empathic language or blocking and distancing approaches. Patients presented fear more often than anger or sadness; severity of disclosures was most often moderate. Oncologists responded to 35% of these negative emotional disclosures with empathic language. They were most empathic when patients presented intense emotions. Responding empathically to patients' emotional disclosures lengthened discussions by an average of only 21s. Greater response rates to severe emotions suggest oncologists may recognize negative emotions better when patients express them more intensely. Oncologists were least responsive to patient fear and responded with greatest empathy to sadness. Oncologists may benefit from additional training to recognize negative emotions, even when displayed without intensity. Teaching cancer patients to better articulate their emotional concerns may also enhance patient-oncologist communication.

The role of multiple negative social relationships in inflammatory cytokine responses to a laboratory stressor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sunmi Song

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The present study examined the unique impact of perceived negativity in multiple social relationships on endocrine and inflammatory responses to a laboratory stressor. Via hierarchical cluster analysis, those who reported negative social exchanges across relationships with a romantic partner, family, and their closest friend had higher mean IL-6 across time and a greater increase in TNF-α from 15 min to 75 min post stress. Those who reported negative social exchanges across relationships with roommates, family, and their closest friend showed greater IL-6 responses to stress. Differences in mean IL-6 were accounted for by either depressed mood or hostility, whereas differences in the cytokine stress responses remained significant after controlling for those factors. Overall, this research provides preliminary evidence to suggest that having multiple negative relationships may exacerbate acute inflammatory responses to a laboratory stressor independent of hostility and depressed mood.

The role of multiple negative social relationships in inflammatory cytokine responses to a laboratory stressor.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Sunmi; Graham-Engeland, Jennifer E; Corwin, Elizabeth J; Ceballos, Rachel M; Taylor, Shelley E; Seeman, Teresa; Klein, Laura Cousino

2015-01-01

The present study examined the unique impact of perceived negativity in multiple social relationships on endocrine and inflammatory responses to a laboratory stressor. Via hierarchical cluster analysis, those who reported negative social exchanges across relationships with a romantic partner, family, and their closest friend had higher mean IL-6 across time and a greater increase in TNF-α from 15 min to 75 min post stress. Those who reported negative social exchanges across relationships with roommates, family, and their closest friend showed greater IL-6 responses to stress. Differences in mean IL-6 were accounted for by either depressed mood or hostility, whereas differences in the cytokine stress responses remained significant after controlling for those factors. Overall, this research provides preliminary evidence to suggest that having multiple negative relationships may exacerbate acute inflammatory responses to a laboratory stressor independent of hostility and depressed mood.

The Positive Side of Negative Labelling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dam, van Y.K.; Jonge, de J.

2015-01-01

Ethical labels signal positive ethical quality of a product but fail to create massive demand for such products. Based on regulatory focus theory and prospect theory, it is argued that negative signalling of low ethical quality would have a stronger effect on the adoption of ethical products than

Brain network response underlying decisions about abstract reinforcers.

Science.gov (United States)

Mills-Finnerty, Colleen; Hanson, Catherine; Hanson, Stephen Jose

2014-12-01

Decision making studies typically use tasks that involve concrete action-outcome contingencies, in which subjects do something and get something. No studies have addressed decision making involving abstract reinforcers, where there are no action-outcome contingencies and choices are entirely hypothetical. The present study examines these kinds of choices, as well as whether the same biases that exist for concrete reinforcer decisions, specifically framing effects, also apply during abstract reinforcer decisions. We use both General Linear Model as well as Bayes network connectivity analysis using the Independent Multi-sample Greedy Equivalence Search (IMaGES) algorithm to examine network response underlying choices for abstract reinforcers under positive and negative framing. We find for the first time that abstract reinforcer decisions activate the same network of brain regions as concrete reinforcer decisions, including the striatum, insula, anterior cingulate, and VMPFC, results that are further supported via comparison to a meta-analysis of decision making studies. Positive and negative framing activated different parts of this network, with stronger activation in VMPFC during negative framing and in DLPFC during positive, suggesting different decision making pathways depending on frame. These results were further clarified using connectivity analysis, which revealed stronger connections between anterior cingulate, insula, and accumbens during negative framing compared to positive. Taken together, these results suggest that not only do abstract reinforcer decisions rely on the same brain substrates as concrete reinforcers, but that the response underlying framing effects on abstract reinforcers also resemble those for concrete reinforcers, specifically increased limbic system connectivity during negative frames. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The opportunity cost of negative screening in socially responsible investing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Trinks, Pieter Jan; Scholtens, Bert

2017-01-01

This paper investigates the impact of negative screening on the investment universe as well as on financial performance. We come up with a novel identification process and as such depart from mainstream Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) literature by concentrating on individual firms’ conduct and

Climate Response to Negative Greenhouse Gas Radiative Forcing in Polar Winter

Science.gov (United States)

Flanner, M. G.; Huang, X.; Chen, X.; Krinner, G.

2018-02-01

Greenhouse gas (GHG) additions to Earth's atmosphere initially reduce global outgoing longwave radiation, thereby warming the planet. In select environments with temperature inversions, however, increased GHG concentrations can actually increase local outgoing longwave radiation. Negative top of atmosphere and effective radiative forcing (ERF) from this situation give the impression that local surface temperatures could cool in response to GHG increases. Here we consider an extreme scenario in which GHG concentrations are increased only within the warmest layers of winter near-surface inversions of the Arctic and Antarctic. We find, using a fully coupled Earth system model, that the underlying surface warms despite the GHG addition exerting negative ERF and cooling the troposphere in the vicinity of the GHG increase. This unique radiative forcing and thermal response is facilitated by the high stability of the polar winter atmosphere, which inhibit thermal mixing and amplify the impact of surface radiative forcing on surface temperature. These findings also suggest that strategies to exploit negative ERF via injections of short-lived GHGs into inversion layers would likely be unsuccessful in cooling the planetary surface.

Fear among the extremes: how political ideology predicts negative emotions and outgroup derogation.

Science.gov (United States)

van Prooijen, Jan-Willem; Krouwel, André P M; Boiten, Max; Eendebak, Lennart

2015-04-01

The "rigidity of the right" hypothesis predicts that particularly the political right experiences fear and derogates outgroups. We propose that above and beyond that, the political extremes (at both sides of the spectrum) are more likely to display these responses than political moderates. Results of a large-scale sample reveal the predicted quadratic term on socio-economic fear. Moreover, although the political right is more likely to derogate the specific category of immigrants, we find a quadratic effect on derogation of a broad range of societal categories. Both extremes also experience stronger negative emotions about politics than politically moderate respondents. Finally, the quadratic effects on derogation of societal groups and negative political emotions were mediated by socio-economic fear, particularly among left- and right-wing extremists. It is concluded that negative emotions and outgroup derogation flourish among the extremes. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Pupillary Response to Negative Emotional Stimuli Is Differentially Affected in Meditation Practitioners

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alejandra Vasquez-Rosati

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Clinically, meditative practices have become increasingly relevant, decreasing anxiety in patients and increasing antibody production. However, few studies have examined the physiological correlates, or effects of the incorporation of meditative practices. Because pupillary reactivity is a marker for autonomic changes and emotional processing, we hypothesized that the pupillary responses of mindfulness meditation practitioners (MP and subjects without such practices (non-meditators (NM differ, reflecting different emotional processing. In a group of 11 MP and 9 NM, we recorded the pupil diameter using video-oculography while subjects explored images with emotional contents. Although both groups showed a similar pupillary response for positive and neutral images, negative images evoked a greater pupillary contraction and a weaker dilation in the MP group. Also, this group had faster physiological recovery to baseline levels. These results suggest that mindfulness meditation practices modulate the response of the autonomic nervous system, reflected in the pupillary response to negative images and faster physiological recovery to baseline levels, suggesting that pupillometry could be used to assess the potential health benefits of these practices in patients.

Pulmonary and systemic inflammatory responses in rabbits with gram-negative pneumonia.

Science.gov (United States)

Fox-Dewhurst, R; Alberts, M K; Kajikawa, O; Caldwell, E; Johnson, M C; Skerrett, S J; Goodman, R B; Ruzinski, J T; Wong, V A; Chi, E Y; Martin, T R

1997-06-01

The major goals of this study were to define the relationships between intrapulmonary and systemic inflammatory responses in animals with gram-negative pneumonia. We treated rabbits with intrapulmonary Escherichia coli (1 x 10(7) to 1 x 10(10) cfu/ml), and then measured physiologic, cellular, and molecular events in the lungs and systemic circulation for 24 h. The treatment protocols resulted in groups of animals that mimicked the stages of the septic inflammatory response in humans. Animals treated with low inocula had systemic changes consistent with systemic inflammatory response syndrome and cleared the bacteria and inflammatory products from the lungs. Animals treated with high inocula failed to clear bacteria from the lungs, had severe intrapulmonary inflammatory responses, and developed septic shock. Intrapulmonary leukocyte recruitment was directly related to the size of the bacterial inoculum, but lung protein accumulation was not. Tumor neurosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-8 (IL-8), and GRO were detectable in lung lavage fluid at 4 h and declined by 24 h in animals that cleared intrapulmonary E. coli. In contrast, lavage TNF-alpha, IL-8, and GRO increased over 24 h in animals that failed to clear intrapulmonary bacteria. MCP-1 increased between 4 h and 24 h in the lungs of all of the animals as the histologic response evolved from neutrophilic to mononuclear cell predominance. Thus, the intensity of systemic inflammatory and physiologic responses to intrapulmonary gram-negative infection depends on the inoculum size and whether the bacteria are cleared from or proliferate in the lungs. The results provide experimental support for the recently proposed classification of septic responses in humans.

The informational impact of mood on effort mobilization: a study of cardiovascular and electrodermal responses.

Science.gov (United States)

Gendolla, G H; Abele, A E; Krüsken, J

2001-03-01

The impact of mood on effort quantified as autonomic adjustments was investigated in an experiment. The authors induced positive versus negative moods with either 1 of 2 mood induction procedures (music vs. autobiographical recollection) that differed in the extent of required effort. Then participants performed an achievement task after demand appraisals were made. Results were as predicted. During the mood inductions, autonomic reactivity (systolic blood pressure [SBP], diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, skin conductance responses) was stronger in the relatively effortful recollection conditions than in the relatively effortless music conditions. Mood valence had no impact here. But in the context of task performance, the authors found (a) mood congruency effects on the demand appraisals that reflected subjectively higher demand in a negative than in a positive mood, and (b) stronger SBP reactivity in a negative mood compared with a positive mood. Furthermore, SBP reactivity during task performance was correlated with achievement.

Females have stronger neurogenic response than males after non-specific nasal challenge in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomljenovic, Dejan; Baudoin, Tomislav; Megla, Zeljka Bukovec; Geber, Goran; Scadding, Glenis; Kalogjera, Livije

2018-07-01

Epidemiological studies show female predominance in the prevalence of non- allergic rhinitis (NAR) and local allergic rhinitis (LAR). Experimental studies show female patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) demonstrate higher levels of sensitivity to irritants and airway hyperresponsiveness than males. Bronchial asthma shows female predominance in post-puberty patients, and gender interaction with severe asthma endotypes. Fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, migraine and chronic cough, syndromes, which are commonly related to neurokinin substance P (SP) in the literature, also show strong female predominance. Studies have demonstrated that sex hormones, primarily oestrogens, affect mast cell activation. Mast cell proteases can amplify neurogenic inflammatory responses including the release of SP. Based on human epidemiological data and animal experimental data we hypothesized that female patients have different interaction between mast cell activation and neurogenic inflammation, i.e. substance P release, resulting in a different nasal symptom profile. To test the hypothesis we performed allergen and non-specific nasal challenges in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR) out of season and looked for gender differences in subjective and objective responses. The interaction between subjective and objective reactivity was evaluated through the comparison of subjective symptom scores, concentrations of neurokinin substance P (SP) and cellular markers in nasal lavages after low doses of nasal allergen challenges. Female allergic subjects tended to have higher substance P (SP) concentrations both before and after non-specific challenges. The difference between post-allergen and post - hypertonic saline (HTS) challenge was highly significant in female patients (p = 0.001), while insignificant in male subjects (p = 0.14). Female patients had significantly stronger burning sensation after HTS challenge than male. These data indicate difference in the

Spectral intensity dependence an isotropy of sources stronger than 0.1 Jy at 2700 MHz

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Balonek, T.J.; Broderick, J.J.; Condon, J.J.; Crawford, D.F.; Jauncey, D.L.

1975-01-01

The 1000-foot (305 m) telescope of the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center was used to measure 430 MHz flux densities of sources stronger than 0.1 Jy at 2700 MHz. Distributions of the resulting two-point spectral indices α (430, 2700) of sources in the intensity range 0.1less than or equal toS<0.35 Jy were compared with α (318, 2700) distributions of sources stronger than 0.35 Jy at 2700 MHz. The median normal-component spectral index and fraction of flat-spectrum sources in the faintest sample do not continue the previously discovered trend toward increased spectral steepening of faint sources. This result differs from the prediction of simple evolutionary cosmological models and therefore favors the alternative explanation that local source-density inhomogeneities are responsible for the observed intensity dependence of spectral indices

Emotion-Specific Priming: Congruence Effects on Affect and Recognition across Negative Emotions.

Science.gov (United States)

Hansen, Christine H.; Shantz, Cynthia A.

1995-01-01

Demonstrated the emotion-specific priming effects of negatively valenced emotions (anger, sadness, and fear) in a divided attention task. Results indicated that a negative emotion displayed by a target that matched the emotion induced by a priming manipulation was significantly stronger than an incongruous priming manipulation and displayed…

[Connection between the evaluation of positive or negative valence and verbal responses to a lexical decision making task].

Science.gov (United States)

Brouillet, Thibaut; Syssau, Arielle

2005-12-01

Evaluation of the positive or negative valence of a stimulus is an activity that is part of any emotional experience that has been mostly studied using the affective priming paradigm. When the prime and the target have the same valence (e.g. positive prime and positive target), the target response is facilitated as a function of opposing valence conditions (e.g. negative prime and positive target). These studies show that this evaluation is automatic but depends on the nature of the task's implied response because the priming effects are only observed for positive responses, not for negative responses. This result was explained in automatic judgmental tendency model put forth by Abelson and Rosenberg (1958) and Klauer and Stern (1992). In this model, affective priming assumes there is an overlap between both responses, the first response taking precedence as a function of the prime-target valence, and the second response one that is required by the task. We are assuming that another type of response was not foreseen under this model. In fact, upon activating the valence for each of the prime-target elements, two preliminary responses would be activated before the response on the prime-target valence relationship. These responses are directly linked to the prime and target evaluation independently of the prime-target relationship. This hypothesis can be linked to the larger hypothesis whereby the evaluative process is related to two distinct motivational systems corresponding to approach and avoidance behaviour responses (Lang, Bradley, & Cuthbert, 1990; Neuman & Strack, 2000; Cacciopo, Piester & Bernston, 1993). In this study, we use the hypothesis that when a word leads to a positive valence evaluation, this favours a positive verbal response and inversely, a negative valence word favours a negative response. We are testing this hypothesis outside the affective priming paradigm to study to what extent evaluating a word, even when it is not primed, activates both

Shame, Catastrophizing, and Negative Partner Responses Are Associated With Lower Sexual and Relationship Satisfaction and More Negative Affect in Men With Peyronie's Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Seth; Ferrar, Saskia; Sadikaj, Gentiana; Binik, Yitzchak; Carrier, Serge

2017-04-03

Peyronie's disease (PD) has a negative impact on men's sexual functioning and quality of life, but little is known about why some men cope better than others and what the effects of PD are on their relationships. The aims of the present study were to describe negative affect, pain, and relationship and sexual satisfaction in men with PD, and to explore their psychosocial correlates. Participants were 110 men diagnosed with PD. All men completed questionnaires. The main outcome measures were as follows: Global Measure of Sexual Satisfaction, Dyadic Adjustment Scale, McGill Pain Questionnaire, and Negative Affect Scale. The predictor variables were the following: Experience of Shame Scale, Body Esteem Scale, Body Image Self-Consciousness Scale, Index of Male Genital Image, a modified Pain Catastrophizing Scale, and a modified Multidimensional Pain Inventory. Although men with PD had mean sexual/relationship satisfaction and negative affect scores indicating mild impairment, there was a wide range of variation, with 42% to 52% scoring in the clinical range. Catastrophizing was significantly associated with reduced sexual satisfaction and increased negative affect and pain. Shame was also associated with increased negative affect. The significant associations of relationship satisfaction were partner responses and shame. Given the lack of curative treatment in PD, understanding why some men cope better than others may guide therapy. Shame, catastrophizing, and partner responses may be important therapeutic targets.

[Effects of the recipient's response on the emotions and cognitions of female undergraduates disclosing negative emotional experiences in interpersonal relationships].

Science.gov (United States)

Endo, Hiroko; Yukawa, Shintaro

2013-04-01

The relationship between a recipient's response to a disclosure of negative emotional experiences, and the resulting negative emotions, hesitation in self-disclosure (interpersonal and intra-personal hesitation), and negatively-confused thoughts of the person making the disclosure were investigated. Female undergraduates (N=271) were asked to write about angry or sad events in their interpersonal relationships that they had disclosed to someone. Then they completed a questionnaire assessing the recipient's responses, negative emotions such as anger and depression caused by the recipient's responses, hesitation in self-disclosure about the events, and negatively-confused thoughts about the events. The results of covariance structure analysis indicated that a recipient's rejection in response to the disclosure of negative emotional experiences resulted in negative thoughts caused by an increase of negative emotions and hesitation in self-disclosure. The results also showed that a recipient's acceptance also increased depression in the person making the self-disclosure, which intensified the intra-personal hesitation, and increased negatively-confused thoughts.

Emotion-related hemisphere asymmetry: subjective emotional responses to laterally presented films.

Science.gov (United States)

Wittling, W; Roschmann, R

1993-09-01

To investigate whether the cerebral hemispheres differ in their subjective emotional responses 54 adult subjects were presented two films of different emotion-related qualities (positive and negative film) either to their left or right hemisphere. The films were exposed by means of a technique for the lateralization of visual input that allows prolonged viewing while permitting free ocular scanning. Subjective emotional responses were assessed by means of a continuous rating of emotional arousal experienced during the movie as well as by retrospective ratings of ten different emotional qualities. Presenting both films to the right hemisphere resulted in stronger subjective responses in the continuous emotion rating as well as in some retrospectively assessed ratings compared to left-hemispheric presentation. The effects were more pronounced for the negative film. Taken together, the findings suggest a higher responsiveness of the right hemisphere in subjective emotional experience.

The relationship between negative responses to HIV status disclosure and psychosocial outcomes among people living with HIV.

Science.gov (United States)

Cama, Elena; Brener, Loren; Slavin, Sean; de Wit, John

2017-07-01

This report examines rates of HIV status disclosure and negative responses to disclosure among people living with HIV in Australia. Among 697 people living with HIV, most (>90%) had disclosed their status to friends, sexual partners and health providers. Almost a third had not disclosed to family, and half had not told any work colleagues. Negative responses to disclosure (e.g. blame, rejection) by all groups were associated with increased HIV-related stigma, psychological distress and diminished social support and health satisfaction. These results shed light on rates of disclosure among people living with HIV in Australia and the adverse health impacts of negative responses to disclosure.

Emotional eating and Pavlovian learning: does negative mood facilitate appetitive conditioning?

Science.gov (United States)

Bongers, Peggy; van den Akker, Karolien; Havermans, Remco; Jansen, Anita

2015-06-01

Emotional eating has been suggested to be a learned behaviour; more specifically, classical conditioning processes might be involved in its development. In the present study we investigated whether a negative mood facilitates appetitive conditioning and whether trait impulsivity influences this process. After undergoing either a negative or neutral mood induction, participants were subjected to a differential classical conditioning procedure, using neutral stimuli and appetizing food. Two initially neutral distinctive vases with flowers were (CS+) or were not (CS-) paired with chocolate mousse intake. We measured participants' expectancy and desire to eat (4 CS+ and 4 CS- trials), salivation response, and actual food intake. The BIS-11 was administered to assess trait impulsivity. In both mood conditions, participants showed a classically conditioned appetite. Unexpectedly, there was no evidence of facilitated appetitive learning in a negative mood with regard to expectancy, desire, salivation, or intake. However, immediately before the taste test, participants in the negative mood condition reported a stronger desire to eat in the CS+ compared to the CS- condition, while no such effect occurred in the neutral group. An effect of impulsivity was found with regard to food intake in the neutral mood condition: high-impulsive participants consumed less food when presented with the CS+ compared to the CS-, and also less than low-impulsive participants. An alternative pathway to appetitive conditioning with regard to emotions is that it is not the neutral stimuli, but the emotions themselves that become conditioned stimuli and elicit appetitive responses. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Promoting success or preventing failure: cultural differences in motivation by positive and negative role models.

Science.gov (United States)

Lockwood, Penelope; Marshall, Tara C; Sadler, Pamela

2005-03-01

In two studies, cross-cultural differences in reactions to positive and negative role models were examined. The authors predicted that individuals from collectivistic cultures, who have a stronger prevention orientation, would be most motivated by negative role models, who highlight a strategy of avoiding failure; individuals from individualistic cultures, who have a stronger promotion focus, would be most motivated by positive role models, who highlight a strategy of pursuing success. In Study 1, the authors examined participants' reported preferences for positive and negative role models. Asian Canadian participants reported finding negative models more motivating than did European Canadians; self-construals and regulatory focus mediated cultural differences in reactions to role models. In Study 2, the authors examined the impact of role models on the academic motivation of Asian Canadian and European Canadian participants. Asian Canadians were motivated only by a negative model, and European Canadians were motivated only by a positive model.

Daily life negative mood and exhaled nitric oxide in asthma.

Science.gov (United States)

Ritz, Thomas; Kullowatz, Antje; Bill, Michelle N; Rosenfield, David

2016-07-01

Psychosocial stress and negative affect have been linked to asthma exacerbations, but longitudinal studies demonstrating a daily life association between negative affect and airway nitric oxide are missing. The longitudinal association between negative mood fluctuations, exhaled nitric oxide, and lung function in asthma was examined. Self-assessments of the fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), spirometry (forced expiratory volume in the first second, FEV1), negative mood, and daily activities were obtained from 20 patients with asthma for 2 months, resulting in 1108 assessments for the analyses (approximately 55 per patient). Concurrent and prospective associations between FeNO, FEV1, and negative mood were analyzed using mixed effects regression models for longitudinal data. Negative mood was positively associated with changes in FeNO during the same day, and to a stronger extent when prior day negative mood was included in the prediction. FeNO and negative mood were positively associated with same-day FEV1, with the latter relation being partially mediated by changes in FeNO. Associations between FeNO and FEV1 were stronger in younger patients, with earlier onset of asthma, or with lower asthma control. Findings were not changed when controlling for physical activity, medication, cold symptoms, air pollution, and hours spent outside. Daily life changes of negative mood in asthma are positively associated with FeNO changes and FeNO increases are associated with a mild bronchodilation. These findings indicate that psychological influences need to be considered when using FeNO as indicator of airway inflammation and guide for treatment decisions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Physicians' responses to patients' expressions of negative emotions in hospital consultations: a video-based observational study.

Science.gov (United States)

Mjaaland, Trond A; Finset, Arnstein; Jensen, Bård Fossli; Gulbrandsen, Pål

2011-09-01

Patients express their negative emotions in medical consultations either implicitly as cue to an underlying unpleasant emotion or explicitly as a clear, unambiguous concern. The health provider's response to such cues and concerns is important for the outcome of consultations. Yet, physicians often neglect patient's negative emotions. Most studies of this subject are from primary health care. We aimed to describe how physicians in a hospital respond to negative emotions in an outpatient setting. Ninety six consultations were videotaped in a general teaching hospital. The Verona Coding Definitions of Emotional Sequences was used to identify patients' expression of negative emotions in terms of cue and concern and to code physicians' subsequent responses. Cohen's kappa was used as interrater reliability measure. Acceptable kappa level was set to .60. We observed 163 expressions of negative emotions. In general, the physician responses to patients' cues and concerns did not include follow up or exploration. Concerns more often than cues led to lack of emotional exploration. When patients expressed negative emotions or cues to such, hospital physicians tended to move away from emotional communication, particularly if the emotion was expressed as an explicit concern. Medical training should enable physicians' to explore the patients' emotions in situations where it will improve the medical treatment. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Amygdala response to negative images in postpartum vs nulliparous women and intranasal oxytocin

OpenAIRE

Rupp, Heather A.; James, Thomas W.; Ketterson, Ellen D.; Sengelaub, Dale R.; Ditzen, Beate; Heiman, Julia R.

2012-01-01

The neuroendocrine state of new mothers may alter their neural processing of stressors in the environment through modulatory actions of oxytocin on the limbic system. We predicted that amygdala sensitivity to negatively arousing stimuli would be suppressed in postpartum compared to nulliparous women and that this suppression would be modulated by administration of oxytocin nasal spray. We measured brain activation (fMRI) and subjective arousal in response to negatively arousing pictures in 29...

Pathway-Enriched Gene Signature Associated with 53BP1 Response to PARP Inhibition in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Hassan, Saima; Esch, Amanda; Liby, Tiera; Gray, Joe W; Heiser, Laura M

2017-12-01

Effective treatment of patients with triple-negative (ER-negative, PR-negative, HER2-negative) breast cancer remains a challenge. Although PARP inhibitors are being evaluated in clinical trials, biomarkers are needed to identify patients who will most benefit from anti-PARP therapy. We determined the responses of three PARP inhibitors (veliparib, olaparib, and talazoparib) in a panel of eight triple-negative breast cancer cell lines. Therapeutic responses and cellular phenotypes were elucidated using high-content imaging and quantitative immunofluorescence to assess markers of DNA damage (53BP1) and apoptosis (cleaved PARP). We determined the pharmacodynamic changes as percentage of cells positive for 53BP1, mean number of 53BP1 foci per cell, and percentage of cells positive for cleaved PARP. Inspired by traditional dose-response measures of cell viability, an EC 50 value was calculated for each cellular phenotype and each PARP inhibitor. The EC 50 values for both 53BP1 metrics strongly correlated with IC 50 values for each PARP inhibitor. Pathway enrichment analysis identified a set of DNA repair and cell cycle-associated genes that were associated with 53BP1 response following PARP inhibition. The overall accuracy of our 63 gene set in predicting response to olaparib in seven breast cancer patient-derived xenograft tumors was 86%. In triple-negative breast cancer patients who had not received anti-PARP therapy, the predicted response rate of our gene signature was 45%. These results indicate that 53BP1 is a biomarker of response to anti-PARP therapy in the laboratory, and our DNA damage response gene signature may be used to identify patients who are most likely to respond to PARP inhibition. Mol Cancer Ther; 16(12); 2892-901. ©2017 AACR . ©2017 American Association for Cancer Research.

Ethylene response factor AtERF72 negatively regulates Arabidopsis thaliana response to iron deficiency.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Wei; Li, Qiwei; Wang, Yi; Wu, Ting; Yang, Yafei; Zhang, Xinzhong; Han, Zhenhai; Xu, Xuefeng

2017-09-23

Ethylene regulates the plant's response to stress caused by iron (Fe) deficiency. However, specific roles of ERF proteins in response to Fe deficiency remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated the role of ERF72 in response to iron deficiency in Arabidopsis thaliana. In this study, the levels of the ethylene response factor AtERF72 increased in leaves and roots induced under the iron deficient conditions. erf72 mutant plants showed increased growth compared to wild type (WT) when grown in iron deficient medium for 5 d. erf72 mutants had increased root H + velocity and the ferric reductase activity, and increase in the expression of the iron deficiency response genes iron-regulated transporter 1 (IRT1) and H + -ATPase (HA2) levels in iron deficient conditions. Compared to WT plants, erf72 mutants retained healthy chloroplast structure with significantly higher Fe and Mg content, and decreased chlorophyll degradation gene pheophorbide a oxygenase (PAO) and chlorophyllase (CLH1) expression when grown in iron deficient media. Yeast one-hybrid analysis showed that ERF72 could directly bind to the promoter regions of iron deficiency responses genes IRT1, HA2 and CLH1. Based on our results, we suggest that ethylene released from plants under iron deficiency stress can activate the expression of ERF72, which responds to iron deficiency in the negative regulation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Preadolescents' Emotional and Prosocial Responses to Negative TV News: Investigating the Beneficial Effects of Constructive Reporting and Peer Discussion.

Science.gov (United States)

Kleemans, Mariska; Schlindwein, Luise F; Dohmen, Roos

2017-09-01

Watching news is important for preadolescents, but it may also harm their well-being. This study examined whether applying insights from positive psychology to news production can reduce this potential harm, by reducing negative emotional responses and enhancing positive emotional responses to negative news, and by encouraging prosocial intentions. Moreover, we explored whether peer discussion strengthened these effects. Preadolescents (n = 336; 9-13 years old; 48.5% female) were exposed to either constructive (solution-based news including positive emotions) or nonconstructive news. Subsequently, half of the children assigned to the constructive and the nonconstructive condition participated in a peer discussion. The findings showed that exposure to constructive news resulted in more positive emotional responses and less negative emotional responses as compared to nonconstructive news. Moreover, discussing the news with peers led to more positive and less negative emotional responses among preadolescents who watched the nonconstructive newscast, and to more prosocial intentions among preadolescents who watched constructive news. In all, constructive news reporting and peer discussion could function as tools to make negative news less harmful for preadolescents.

Women's political participation leads to stronger local economies ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2016-06-08

Jun 8, 2016 ... Under changes to India's constitution, Indian women are gaining a stronger ... Legal reforms are encouraging women to contribute to economic growth ... on a panel on empowering women entrepreneurs at IDRC in Ottawa.

Chemical reaction due to stronger Ramachandran interaction

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

The origin of a chemical reaction between two reactant atoms is associated with the activation energy, on the assumption that, high-energy collisions between these atoms, are the ones that overcome the activation energy. Here, we show that a stronger attractive van der Waals (vdW) and electron-ion Coulomb interactions ...

Patient personality and therapist response: an empirical investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Colli, Antonello; Tanzilli, Annalisa; Dimaggio, Giancarlo; Lingiardi, Vittorio

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between therapists' emotional responses and patients' personality disorders and level of psychological functioning. A random national sample of psychiatrists and clinical psychologists (N=203) completed the Therapist Response Questionnaire to identify patterns of therapists' emotional response, and the Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure-200 to assess personality disorders and level of psychological functioning in a randomly selected patient currently in their care and with whom they had worked for a minimum of eight sessions and a maximum of 6 months (one session per week). There were several significant relationships between therapists' responses and patients' personality pathology. Paranoid and antisocial personality disorders were associated with criticized/mistreated countertransference, and borderline personality disorder was related to helpless/inadequate, overwhelmed/disorganized, and special/overinvolved countertransference. Disengaged countertransference was associated with schizotypal and narcissistic personality disorders and negatively associated with dependent and histrionic personality disorders. Schizoid personality disorder was associated with helpless/inadequate responses. Positive countertransference was associated with avoidant personality disorder, which was also related to both parental/protective and special/overinvolved therapist responses. Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder was negatively associated with special/overinvolved therapist responses. In general, therapists' responses were characterized by stronger negative feelings when working with lower-functioning patients. Patients' specific personality pathologies are associated with consistent emotional responses, which suggests that clinicians can make diagnostic and therapeutic use of their responses to patients.

Fear of Failure, Self-Handicapping, and Negative Emotions in Response to Failure

Science.gov (United States)

Bartels, Jared M.; Herman, William E.

2011-01-01

Research suggests that students who fear failure are likely to utilize cognitive strategies such as self-handicapping that serve to perpetuate failure. Such devastating motivational dispositions clearly limit academic success. The present study examined negative emotional responses to scenarios involving academic failure among a sample of…

Self-construal differences in neural responses to negative social cues.

Science.gov (United States)

Liddell, Belinda J; Felmingham, Kim L; Das, Pritha; Whitford, Thomas J; Malhi, Gin S; Battaglini, Eva; Bryant, Richard A

2017-10-01

Cultures differ substantially in representations of the self. Whereas individualistic cultural groups emphasize an independent self, reflected in processing biases towards centralized salient objects, collectivistic cultures are oriented towards an interdependent self, attending to contextual associations between visual cues. It is unknown how these perceptual biases may affect brain activity in response to negative social cues. Moreover, while some studies have shown that individual differences in self-construal moderate cultural group comparisons, few have examined self-construal differences separate to culture. To investigate these issues, a final sample of a group of healthy participants high in trait levels of collectivistic self-construal (n=16) and individualistic self-construal (n=19), regardless of cultural background, completed a negative social cue evaluation task designed to engage face/object vs context-specific neural processes whilst undergoing fMRI scanning. Between-group analyses revealed that the collectivistic group exclusively engaged the parahippocampal gyrus (parahippocampal place area) - a region critical to contextual integration - during negative face processing - suggesting compensatory activations when contextual information was missing. The collectivist group also displayed enhanced negative context dependent brain activity involving the left superior occipital gyrus/cuneus and right anterior insula. By contrast, the individualistic group did not engage object or localized face processing regions as predicted, but rather demonstrated heightened appraisal and self-referential activations in medial prefrontal and temporoparietal regions to negative contexts - again suggesting compensatory processes when focal cues were absent. While individualists also appeared more sensitive to negative faces in the scenes, activating the right middle cingulate gyrus, dorsal prefrontal and parietal activations, this activity was observed relative to the

Women's political participation leads to stronger local economies ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Edgard Rodriguez - IDRC. Women attend a self-help group meeting near Hyderabad, India. Keenara Khanderia. Under changes to India's constitution, Indian women are gaining a stronger political voice. Legal reforms are encouraging women to contribute to economic growth and investments in community growth.

Physical fitness and cardiovascular response to lower body negative pressure

Science.gov (United States)

Raven, P. B.; Rohm-Young, D.; Blomqvist, C. G.

1984-01-01

Klein et al. (1977) have questioned the concept of endurance training as an appropriate means of preparing for prolonged space flights. Their opinion was mainly based on reports of endurance athletes who had a decreased tolerance to orthostatic or gravitational stress induced by lower body negative pressure (LBNP), upright tilt, or whole body water immersion. The present investigation had the objective to determine if the hemodynamic response to LBNP is different between a high and average fit group of subjects. In addition, the discrete aspect of cardiovascular function which had been altered by chronic training was to be identified. On the basis of the results of experiments conducted with 14 young male volunteers, it is concluded that the reflex response to central hypovolemia is altered by endurance exercise training.

Quitting smoking: The importance of non-smoker identity in predicting smoking behaviour and responses to a smoking ban.

Science.gov (United States)

Meijer, Eline; Gebhardt, Winifred A; Dijkstra, Arie; Willemsen, Marc C; Van Laar, Colette

2015-01-01

We examined how 'smoker' and 'non-smoker' self- and group-identities and socio-economic status (SES) may predict smoking behaviour and responses to antismoking measures (i.e., the Dutch smoking ban in hospitality venues). We validated a measure of responses to the smoking ban. Longitudinal online survey study with one-year follow-up (N = 623 at T1 in 2011; N = 188 at T2 in 2012) among daily smokers. Intention to quit, quit attempts and 'rejecting', 'victimizing', 'socially conscious smoking' and 'active quitting' responses to the smoking ban. Non-smoker identities are more important than smoker identities in predicting intention to quit, quit attempts and responses to the smoking ban, even when controlling for other important predictors such as nicotine dependence. Smokers with stronger non-smoker identities had stronger intentions to quit, were more likely to attempt to quit between measurements, and showed less negative and more positive responses to the smoking ban. The association between non-smoker self-identity and intention to quit was stronger among smokers with lower than higher SES. Antismoking measures might be more effective if they would focus also on the identity of smokers, and help smokers to increase identification with non-smoking and non-smokers.

Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-2 fine-tunes inflammatory responses in murine Gram-negative sepsis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schmidt Thøgersen, Mariane; Gawish, Riem; Martins, Rui

2015-01-01

During infections, TLR-mediated responses require tight regulation to allow for pathogen removal, while preventing overwhelming inflammation and immunopathology. The triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells (TREM)-2 negatively regulates inflammation by macrophages and impacts on phagocytosis...... was followed by an accelerated resolution and ultimately improved survival, associated with the induction of the negative regulator A20. Upon infection with Escherichia coli, the otherwise beneficial effect of an exaggerated early immune response in TREM-2(-/-) animals was counteracted by a 50% reduction...... in bacterial phagocytosis. In line with this, TREM-2(-/-) peritoneal macrophages (PMs) exhibited augmented inflammation following TLR4 stimulation, demonstrating the presence and negative regulatory functionality of TREM-2 on primary PMs. Significantly, we identified a high turnover rate because TREM-2 RNA...

Responses to negative pressure surrounding the neck in anesthetized animals.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolin, A D; Strohl, K P; Acree, B N; Fouke, J M

1990-01-01

Continuous positive pressure applied at the nose has been shown to cause a decrease in upper airway resistance. The present study was designed to determine whether a similar positive transmural pressure gradient, generated by applying a negative pressure at the body surface around the neck, altered upper airway patency. Studies were performed in nine spontaneously breathing anesthetized supine dogs. Airflow was measured with a pneumotachograph mounted on an airtight muzzle placed over the nose and mouth of each animal. Upper airway pressure was measured as the differential pressure between the extrathoracic trachea and the inside of the muzzle. Upper airway resistance was monitored as an index of airway patency. Negative pressure (-2 to -20 cmH2O) was applied around the neck by using a cuirass extending from the jaw to the thorax. In each animal, increasingly negative pressures were transmitted to the airway wall in a progressive, although not linear, fashion. Decreasing the pressure produced a progressive fall in upper airway resistance, without causing a significant change in respiratory drive or respiratory timing. At -5 cmH2O pressure, there occurred a significant fall in upper airway resistance, comparable with the response of a single, intravenous injection of sodium cyanide (0.5-3.0 mg), a respiratory stimulant that produces substantial increases in respiratory drive. We conclude that upper airway resistance is influenced by the transmural pressure across the airway wall and that such a gradient can be accomplished by making the extraluminal pressure more negative.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Alternative stable states and alternative endstates of community assembly through intra- and interspecific positive and negative interactions.

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Gerla, Daan J; Mooij, Wolf M

2014-09-01

Positive and negative interactions within and between species may occur simultaneously, with the net effect depending on population densities. For instance, at low densities plants may ameliorate stress, while competition for resources dominates at higher densities. Here, we propose a simple two-species model in which con- and heterospecifics have a positive effect on per capita growth rate at low densities, while negative interactions dominate at high densities. The model thus includes both Allee effects (intraspecific positive effects) and mutualism (interspecific positive effects), as well as intra- and interspecific competition. Using graphical methods we derive conditions for alternative stable states and species coexistence. We show that mutual non-invasibility (i.e. the inability of each species to invade a population of the other) is more likely when species have a strong positive effect on the own species or a strong negative effect on the other species. Mutual non-invasibility implies alternative stable states, however, there may also be alternative stable states at which species coexist. In the case of species symmetry (i.e. when species are indistinguishable), such alternative coexistence states require that if the positive effect exerted at low densities at the own species is stronger than on the other species, the negative effect at higher densities is also stronger on the own species than on the other species, or, vice versa, if the interspecific positive effects at low densities are stronger than the intraspecific effects, the negative effects at higher densities are also stronger between species than within species. However, the reachability of alternative stable states is restricted by the frequency and density at which species are introduced during community assembly, so that alternative stable states do not always represent alternative endstates of community assembly. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Amygdala and fusiform gyrus temporal dynamics: Responses to negative facial expressions

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Rauch Scott L

2008-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The amygdala habituates in response to repeated human facial expressions; however, it is unclear whether this brain region habituates to schematic faces (i.e., simple line drawings or caricatures of faces. Using an fMRI block design, 16 healthy participants passively viewed repeated presentations of schematic and human neutral and negative facial expressions. Percent signal changes within anatomic regions-of-interest (amygdala and fusiform gyrus were calculated to examine the temporal dynamics of neural response and any response differences based on face type. Results The amygdala and fusiform gyrus had a within-run "U" response pattern of activity to facial expression blocks. The initial block within each run elicited the greatest activation (relative to baseline and the final block elicited greater activation than the preceding block. No significant differences between schematic and human faces were detected in the amygdala or fusiform gyrus. Conclusion The "U" pattern of response in the amygdala and fusiform gyrus to facial expressions suggests an initial orienting, habituation, and activation recovery in these regions. Furthermore, this study is the first to directly compare brain responses to schematic and human facial expressions, and the similarity in brain responses suggest that schematic faces may be useful in studying amygdala activation.

A new Integrated Negative Symptom structure of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) in schizophrenia using item response analysis.

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Khan, Anzalee; Lindenmayer, Jean-Pierre; Opler, Mark; Yavorsky, Christian; Rothman, Brian; Lucic, Luka

2013-10-01

Debate persists with regard to how best to categorize the syndromal dimension of negative symptoms in schizophrenia. The aim was to first review published Principle Components Analysis (PCA) of the PANSS, and extract items most frequently included in the negative domain, and secondly, to examine the quality of items using Item Response Theory (IRT) to select items that best represent a measurable dimension (or dimensions) of negative symptoms. First, 22 factor analyses and PCA met were included. Second, using a large dataset (n=7187) of participants in clinical trials with chronic schizophrenia, we extracted items loading on one or more PCA. Third, items not loading with a value of ≥ 0.5, or loading on more than one component with values of ≥ 0.5 were discarded. Fourth, resulting items were included in a non-parametric IRT and retained based on Option Characteristic Curves (OCCs) and Item Characteristic Curves (ICCs). 15 items loaded on a negative domain in at least one study, with Emotional Withdrawal loading on all studies. Non-parametric IRT retained nine items as an Integrated Negative Factor: Emotional Withdrawal, Blunted Affect, Passive/Apathetic Social Withdrawal, Poor Rapport, Lack of Spontaneity/Conversation Flow, Active Social Avoidance, Disturbance of Volition, Stereotyped Thinking and Difficulty in Abstract Thinking. This is the first study to use a psychometric IRT process to arrive at a set of negative symptom items. Future steps will include further examination of these nine items in terms of their stability, sensitivity to change, and correlations with functional and cognitive outcomes. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test: Validity and Relationship with Cardiovascular Stress-Responses.

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van der Ploeg, Melanie M; Brosschot, Jos F; Thayer, Julian F; Verkuil, Bart

2016-01-01

Self-report, i.e., explicit, measures of affect cannot fully explain the cardiovascular (CV) responses to stressors. Measuring affect beyond self-report, i.e., using implicit measures, could add to our understanding of stress-related CV activity. The Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test (IPANAT) was administered in two studies to test its ecological validity and relation with CV responses and self-report measures of affect. In Study 1 students (N = 34) viewed four film clips inducing anger, happiness, fear, or no emotion, and completed the IPANAT and the Positive And Negative Affect Scale at baseline and after each clip. Implicit negative affect (INA) was higher and implicit positive affect (IPA) was lower after the anger inducing clip and vice versa after the happiness inducing clip. In Study 2 students performed a stressful math task with (n = 14) or without anger harassment (n = 15) and completed the IPANAT and a Visual Analog Scale as an explicit measure afterwards. Systolic (SBP), diastolic (DBP) blood pressure, heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), and total peripheral resistance (TPR) were recorded throughout. SBP and DBP were higher and TPR was lower in the harassment condition during the task with a prolonged effect on SBP and DBP during recovery. As expected, explicit negative affect (ENA) was higher and explicit positive affect (EPA) lower after harassment, but ENA and EPA were not related to CV activity. Although neither INA nor IPA differed between the tasks, during both tasks higher INA was related to higher SBP, lower HRV and lower TPR and to slower recovery of DBP after both tasks. Low IPA was related to slower recovery of SBP and DBP after the tasks. Implicit affect was not related to recovery of HR, HRV, and TPR. In conclusion, the IPANAT seems to respond to film clip-induced negative and positive affect and was related to CV activity during and after stressful tasks. These findings support the theory that implicitly measured affect

Bilingual recognition memory: stronger performance but weaker levels-of-processing effects in the less fluent language.

Science.gov (United States)

Francis, Wendy S; Gutiérrez, Marisela

2012-04-01

The effects of bilingual proficiency on recognition memory were examined in an experiment with Spanish-English bilinguals. Participants learned lists of words in English and Spanish under shallow- and deep-encoding conditions. Overall, hit rates were higher, discrimination greater, and response times shorter in the nondominant language, consistent with effects previously observed for lower frequency words. Levels-of-processing effects in hit rates, discrimination, and response time were stronger in the dominant language. Specifically, with shallow encoding, the advantage for the nondominant language was larger than with deep encoding. The results support the idea that memory performance in the nondominant language is impacted by both the greater demand for cognitive resources and the lower familiarity of the words.

Smith-Purcell radiation from a grating of negative-index material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, D.; Hangyo, M.; Yang, Z.; Asakawa, M.R.; Miyamoto, S.; Tsunawaki, Y.; Takano, K.; Imasaki, K.

2011-01-01

Smith-Purcell radiation from an electric line charge that moves, at constant speed, parallel to a grating made of metamaterial with negative index is analyzed. Through theoretical analysis and computations, we show that the Smith-Purcell radiation is stronger from a grating of negative-index material, than that from a positive-index material and perfect conductor. Also, we found that the radiation strongly depends on the values of permeability and permittivity. Calculations on grating with saw-like profile and rectangular profile are also carried out and demonstrated.

Emotional responses to a romantic partner's imaginary rejection: the roles of attachment anxiety, covert narcissism, and self-evaluation.

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Besser, Avi; Priel, Beatriz

2009-02-01

These studies tested the associations between responses to an induced imaginary romantic rejection and individual differences on dimensions of attachment and covert narcissism. In Study 1 (N=125), we examined the associations between attachment dimensions and emotional responses to a vignette depicting a scenario of romantic rejection, as measured by self-reported negative mood states, expressions of anger, somatic symptoms, and self-evaluation. Higher scores on attachment anxiety, but not on attachment avoidance, were associated with stronger reactions to the induced rejection. Moreover, decreased self-evaluation scores (self-esteem and pride) were found to mediate these associations. In Study 2 (N=88), the relative contributions of covert narcissism and attachment anxiety to the emotional responses to romantic rejection were explored. Higher scores on covert narcissism were associated with stronger reactions to the induced rejection. Moreover, covert narcissism seemed to constitute a specific aspect of attachment anxiety.

Relations among child negative emotionality, parenting stress, and maternal sensitive responsiveness in early childhood

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Paulussen-Hoogeboom, M.C.; Stams, G.J.J.M.; Hermanns, J.M.A.; Peetsma, T.T.D.

2008-01-01

This short-term longitudinal study focuses on relations between preschool-aged childrens' perceived "difficult" temperament (defined as high negative emotionality) and observed maternal sensitive responsiveness in the context of maternal parenting stress. Design. Participants were fifty-nine

Clinical Initial Response of Neoadjuvant Chemotheraphy in Triple Negative, HER-2, and Luminal Types of Breast Cancer in Denpasar (A Preliminary Study

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Kristianto Yuli Yarso

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Triple Negative, Luminal, HER-2 subtypes of breast cancer are markers to predict behavior, aggressiveness, and response to chemotherapy. The aim of this study is to understand character and response to standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy in different subtypes of breast cancer. Method: This is a descriptive study of breast cancer subtypes. From 687 patients (2003-2010 351 patients have IHC data which divided into 3 groups, Triple negative, Luminal, and HER-2. We used 10% as a cut off point for ER, PR, while 30% & positive 3 for HER-2. We determined initial clinical response after 3 cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy although only 77 got standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy and had clinical response data. We used 50% diameters depreciation & no metastasis as cut off point for respond group. Results: There were 116 (33% Triple Negative, 60 (17% HER-2, and 175 (50% Luminal Subtypes. The mean of age for 351 patients are 48.32 (23-82 years. In this study, it was obtained that no significant difference of means of age (p=0.24 in these 3 groups. Triple negative group significantly more advance in grade if compared with the other two groups (p=0.02. HER-2 group had highest response with standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy (50%, Luminal group had (49%, and Triple negative group had only (15% response. One pCR in HER-2 group. There were no difference ages in subtypes. Triple negative has more advances in grade. HER-2 group has highest response to standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy and Triple negative has lowest response to standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Metabolomics Analysis of Hormone-Responsive and Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Cell Responses to Paclitaxel Identify Key Metabolic Differences.

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Stewart, Delisha A; Winnike, Jason H; McRitchie, Susan L; Clark, Robert F; Pathmasiri, Wimal W; Sumner, Susan J

2016-09-02

To date, no targeted therapies are available to treat triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), while other breast cancer subtypes are responsive to current therapeutic treatment. Metabolomics was conducted to reveal differences in two hormone receptor-negative TNBC cell lines and two hormone receptor-positive Luminal A cell lines. Studies were conducted in the presence and absence of paclitaxel (Taxol). TNBC cell lines had higher levels of amino acids, branched-chain amino acids, nucleotides, and nucleotide sugars and lower levels of proliferation-related metabolites like choline compared with Luminal A cell lines. In the presence of paclitaxel, each cell line showed unique metabolic responses, with some similarities by type. For example, in the Luminal A cell lines, levels of lactate and creatine decreased while certain choline metabolites and myo-inositol increased with paclitaxel. In the TNBC cell lines levels of glutamine, glutamate, and glutathione increased, whereas lysine, proline, and valine decreased in the presence of drug. Profiling secreted inflammatory cytokines in the conditioned media demonstrated a greater response to paclitaxel in the hormone-positive Luminal cells compared with a secretion profile that suggested greater drug resistance in the TNBC cells. The most significant differences distinguishing the cell types based on pathway enrichment analyses were related to amino acid, lipid and carbohydrate metabolism pathways, whereas several biological pathways were differentiated between the cell lines following treatment.

When seeing outweighs feeling: a role for prefrontal cortex in passive control of negative affect in blindsight.

Science.gov (United States)

Anders, Silke; Eippert, Falk; Wiens, Stefan; Birbaumer, Niels; Lotze, Martin; Wildgruber, Dirk

2009-11-01

Affective neuroscience has been strongly influenced by the view that a 'feeling' is the perception of somatic changes and has consequently often neglected the neural mechanisms that underlie the integration of somatic and other information in affective experience. Here, we investigate affective processing by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging in nine cortically blind patients. In these patients, unilateral postgeniculate lesions prevent primary cortical visual processing in part of the visual field which, as a result, becomes subjectively blind. Residual subcortical processing of visual information, however, is assumed to occur in the entire visual field. As we have reported earlier, these patients show significant startle reflex potentiation when a threat-related visual stimulus is shown in their blind visual field. Critically, this was associated with an increase of brain activity in somatosensory-related areas, and an increase in experienced negative affect. Here, we investigated the patients' response when the visual stimulus was shown in the sighted visual field, that is, when it was visible and cortically processed. Despite the fact that startle reflex potentiation was similar in the blind and sighted visual field, patients reported significantly less negative affect during stimulation of the sighted visual field. In other words, when the visual stimulus was visible and received full cortical processing, the patients' phenomenal experience of affect did not closely reflect somatic changes. This decoupling of phenomenal affective experience and somatic changes was associated with an increase of activity in the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and a decrease of affect-related somatosensory activity. Moreover, patients who showed stronger left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex activity tended to show a stronger decrease of affect-related somatosensory activity. Our findings show that similar affective somatic changes can be associated with

A non-linear association between self-reported negative emotional response to stress and subsequent allostatic load: prospective results from the Whitehall II cohort study.

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Dich, Nadya; Doan, Stacey N; Kivimäki, Mika; Kumari, Meena; Rod, Naja Hulvej

2014-11-01

Previous research suggests that high levels of negative emotions may affect health. However, it is likely that the absence of an emotional response following stressful events may also be problematic. Accordingly, we investigated whether a non-linear association exists between negative emotional response to major life events and allostatic load, a multisystem indicator of physiological dysregulation. Study sample was 6764 British civil service workers from the Whitehall II cohort. Negative emotional response was assessed by self-report at baseline. Allostatic load was calculated using cardiovascular, metabolic and immune function biomarkers at three clinical follow-up examinations. A non-linear association between negative emotional response and allostatic load was observed: being at either extreme end of the distribution of negative emotional response increased the risk of physiological dysregulation. Allostatic load also increased with age, but the association between negative emotional response and allostatic load remained stable over time. These results provide evidence for a more nuanced understanding of the role of negative emotions in long-term physical health. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mindfulness during romantic conflict moderates the impact of negative partner behaviors on cortisol responses.

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Laurent, Heidemarie K; Hertz, Robin; Nelson, Benjamin; Laurent, Sean M

2016-03-01

This study was designed to test whether romantic partners' mindfulness-present moment, nonjudgmental awareness-during a conflict discussion could buffer the effects of negative partner behaviors on neuroendocrine stress responses. Heterosexual couples (n=88 dyads) provided 5 saliva samples for cortisol assay during a laboratory session involving a conflict discussion task. Conflict behaviors were coded by outside observers using the System for Coding Interactions in Dyads, and partners rated their mindfulness during the task using the Toronto Mindfulness Scale. Interactions tested using multilevel modeling revealed that participants with higher levels of mindfulness during the conflict showed either quicker cortisol recovery or an absence of slowed recovery in the presence of more negative partner behaviors. Whereas the attitudinal component of mindfulness (curiosity) moderated effects of negative partner engagement in the conflict (i.e., attempts to control, coerciveness, negativity and conflict), the attentional component of mindfulness (decentering) moderated the effect of partner disengagement (i.e., withdrawal). These findings lend support to the idea that mindfulness during a stressful interaction can mitigate the physiological impacts of negative behaviors. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

NKG2H-Expressing T Cells Negatively Regulate Immune Responses

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Daniela Dukovska

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The biology and function of NKG2H receptor, unlike the better characterized members of the NKG2 family NKG2A, NKG2C, and NKG2D, remains largely unclear. Here, we show that NKG2H is able to associate with the signaling adapter molecules DAP12 and DAP10 suggesting that this receptor can signal for cell activation. Using a recently described NKG2H-specific monoclonal antibody (mAb, we have characterized the expression and function of lymphocytes that express this receptor. NKG2H is expressed at the cell surface of a small percentage of peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC and is found more frequently on T cells, rather than NK cells. Moreover, although NKG2H is likely to trigger activation, co-cross-linking of this receptor with an NKG2H-specific mAb led to decreased T cell activation and proliferation in polyclonal PBMC cultures stimulated by anti-CD3 mAbs. This negative regulatory activity was seen only after cross-linking with NKG2H, but not NKG2A- or NKG2C-specific monoclonal antibodies. The mechanism underlying this negative effect is as yet unclear, but did not depend on the release of soluble factors or recognition of MHC class I molecules. These observations raise the intriguing possibility that NKG2H may be a novel marker for T cells able to negatively regulate T cell responses.

Negative Mood Increases Selective Attention to Negatively Valenced Body Parts in Female Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa.

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Jennifer Svaldi

Full Text Available Previous research has yielded evidence of increased attentional processing of negatively valenced body parts in women with anorexia nervosa (AN, especially for those with high depressive symptomatology. The present study extended previous research by implementing an experimental mood manipulation.In a within-subjects design, female adolescents with AN (n = 12 and an age matched female control group (CG; n = 12 were given a negative and a positive mood induction at a one-week interval. After each mood induction, participants underwent a 3-min mirror exposure, while their eye movements were recorded.After the positive mood induction, both AN and CG participants displayed longer and more frequent gazes towards their self-defined most ugly relative to their self-defined most beautiful body part. However, after the negative mood induction, only females with AN were characterized by increased attention to their most ugly compared to their most beautiful body part, while CG participants' attention distribution was balanced. Furthermore, in the negative (but not in the positive mood induction condition gaze frequency and duration towards the most ugly body part was significantly stronger in the AN group relative to the CG.The results emphasize the role of negative mood in the maintenance of pathological information processing of the self-body. This increased body-related negativity-bias during negative mood may lead to the persistence and aggravation of AN patients' body image disturbance.

Yes: The Symptoms of OCD and Depression Are Discrete and Not Exclusively Negative Affectivity

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Kathleen A. Moore

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Although Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD and Depression are classified as separate disorders, the high incidence of co-morbidity and the strong correlations between measures of each has led to debate about the nature of their relationship. Some authors have proposed that OCD is in fact a mood disorder while others have suggested that the two disorders are grounded in negative affectivity. A third proposition is that depression is an essential part of OCD but that OCD is a separate disorder from depression. The aim in this study was to investigate these diverse propositions in a non-clinical sample and also to determine whether factors implicated in each, that is anxious and depressive cognitions, hopelessness, and self-criticism, would demonstrate commonality as predictors of the symptoms of OCD and of depression. Two hundred participants (59% female (M age = 34 years, SD = 16 completed the Padua Inventory, Carroll Rating Scale, Cognitions Checklist, Self-Criticism Scale, Beck Hopelessness Scale, Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory-Revised and a Negative Affectivity Schedule. Results indicated a strong correlation between OCD and depression, depression, and negative affectivity but a weaker relationship between OCD and negative affectivity. Path analyses revealed that both anxious and depressive cognitions, as well as hostility predicted both disorders but the Beta-weights were stronger on OCD. Self-criticism predicted only depression while hopelessness failed to predict either disorder but was itself predicted by depressive cognitions. Depression was a stronger indicator of negative affect than OCD and while OCD positively predicted depression, depression was a negative indicator of OCD. These results support the hypothesis that OCD and depression are discrete disorders and indicate that while depression is implicated in OCD, the reverse does not hold. While both disorders are related to negative affectivity, this relationship is much stronger

Yes: The Symptoms of OCD and Depression Are Discrete and Not Exclusively Negative Affectivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Kathleen A; Howell, Jacqui

2017-01-01

Although Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Depression are classified as separate disorders, the high incidence of co-morbidity and the strong correlations between measures of each has led to debate about the nature of their relationship. Some authors have proposed that OCD is in fact a mood disorder while others have suggested that the two disorders are grounded in negative affectivity. A third proposition is that depression is an essential part of OCD but that OCD is a separate disorder from depression. The aim in this study was to investigate these diverse propositions in a non-clinical sample and also to determine whether factors implicated in each, that is anxious and depressive cognitions, hopelessness, and self-criticism, would demonstrate commonality as predictors of the symptoms of OCD and of depression. Two hundred participants (59% female) ( M age = 34 years, SD = 16) completed the Padua Inventory, Carroll Rating Scale, Cognitions Checklist, Self-Criticism Scale, Beck Hopelessness Scale, Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory-Revised and a Negative Affectivity Schedule. Results indicated a strong correlation between OCD and depression, depression, and negative affectivity but a weaker relationship between OCD and negative affectivity. Path analyses revealed that both anxious and depressive cognitions, as well as hostility predicted both disorders but the Beta-weights were stronger on OCD. Self-criticism predicted only depression while hopelessness failed to predict either disorder but was itself predicted by depressive cognitions. Depression was a stronger indicator of negative affect than OCD and while OCD positively predicted depression, depression was a negative indicator of OCD. These results support the hypothesis that OCD and depression are discrete disorders and indicate that while depression is implicated in OCD, the reverse does not hold. While both disorders are related to negative affectivity, this relationship is much stronger for depression

LHC Season 2: A stronger machine

CERN Multimedia

Dominguez, Daniel

2015-01-01

1) New magnets / De nouveaux aimants 2) Stronger connections / Des jonctions électriques renforcées 3) Safer magnets / Des aimants plus sûrs 4) Higher energy beams / Des faisceaux d’énergie plus élevée 5) Narrower beams / Des faisceaux plus serrés 6) Smaller but closer proton packets / Des groupes de protons plus petits mais plus rapprochés 7) Higher voltage / Une tension plus haute 8) Superior cryogenics / Un système cryogénique amélioré 9) Radiation-resistant electronics / Une électronique qui résiste aux radiations 10) More secure vacuum / Un vide plus sûr

The Impact of Positive and Negative Affect and Issue Framing on Issue Interpretation and Risk Taking.

Science.gov (United States)

Mittal; Ross

1998-12-01

Two studies examined the influence of transient affective states and issue framing on issue interpretation and risk taking within the context of strategic decision making. In Study 1, participants in whom transient positive or negative affective states were induced by reading a short story showed systematic differences in issue interpretation and risk taking in a strategic decision making context. Compared to negative mood participants, those in a positive mood were more likely to interpret the strategic issue as an opportunity and displayed lower levels of risk taking. Study 2 replicated and extended these results by crossing affective states with threat and opportunity frames. Results showed that framing an issue (as a threat or an opportunity) had a stronger impact on issue interpretation among negative affect participants than among positive affect participants. Affective states also moderated the impact of issue framing on risk taking: the effect of framing on risk-taking was stronger under negative rather than positive affect. These results are interpreted via information-processing and motivational effects of affect on a decision maker. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.

Lower-Body Muscle Structure and Jump Performance of Stronger and Weaker Surfing Athletes.

Science.gov (United States)

Secomb, Josh L; Nimphius, Sophia; Farley, Oliver R; Lundgren, Lina; Tran, Tai T; Sheppard, Jeremy M

2016-07-01

To identify whether there are any significant differences in the lower-body muscle structure and countermovement-jump (CMJ) and squat-jump (SJ) performance between stronger and weaker surfing athletes. Twenty elite male surfers had their lower-body muscle structure assessed with ultrasonography and completed a series of lower-body strength and jump tests including isometric midthigh pull (IMTP), CMJ, and SJ. Athletes were separated into stronger (n = 10) and weaker (n = 10) groups based on IMTP performance. Large significant differences were identified between the groups for vastus lateralis (VL) thickness (P = .02, ES = 1.22) and lateral gastrocnemius (LG) pennation angle (P = .01, ES = 1.20), and a large nonsignificant difference was identified in LG thickness (P = .08, ES = 0.89). Furthermore, significant differences were present between the groups for peak force, relative peak force, and jump height in the CMJ and SJ (P Stronger surfing athletes in this study had greater VL and LG thickness and LG pennation angle. These muscle structures may explain their better performance in the CMJ and SJ. A unique finding in this study was that the stronger group appeared to better use their strength and muscle structure for braking as they had significantly higher eccentric peak velocity and vertical displacement during the CMJ. This enhanced eccentric phase may have resulted in a greater production and subsequent utilization of stored elastic strain energy that led to the significantly better CMJ performance in the stronger group.

Reflection of ion acoustic solitons in a plasma having negative ions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chauhan, S.S.; Malik, H.K.; Dahiya, R.P.

1996-01-01

Reflection of compressive and rarefactive ion acoustic solitons propagating in an inhomogeneous plasma in the presence of negative ions is investigated. Modified Korteweg endash deVries equations for incident and reflected solitons are derived and solved. The amplitude of incident and reflected solitons increases with negative to positive ion density ratio. With increasing density ratio, reflection of rarefactive solitons is reinforced whereas that of compressive solitons weakened. The rarefactive solitons are found to undergo stronger reflection than the compressive ones. copyright 1996 American Institute of Physics

Effects of Potassium Channel Blockers on the Negative Inotropic Responses Induced by Cromakalim and Pinacidil in Guinea Pig Atrium

Science.gov (United States)

1992-01-01

RD-A2•4 875 EFFECTS OF POTASSIUM CHANNEL BLOCKERS ON THE NEGATIVE 1/1 INOTROPIC RESPONSES INDUCED BY CRONAKALIM RND PINACIDIL IN GUINEA PIG ATRIUM(U...INOTROPICTRSPONSES INDUCED BY CROMAKAUM AND PINACIDILIN GUINEA PIG ATRIUM a AUTHOR WAI-MAN LAU 7 FORMING ORG NAMES/ADDRESSES DEFENCE SCIENCE AND a...and Technology Organisaio Aot Val. Negative Inotropic Responses Victoria. Australia Induced by Cromakalim and Pinacidil in Guinea Pig Atrium Key

Stronger relationship of serum apolipoprotein A-1 and B with diabetic retinopathy than traditional lipids

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B S Ankit

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Aim: Diabetic retinopathy (DR is the most common preventable cause of blindness where early detection and treatment can be sight-saving. Search for biomarkers of the disease has been relentless. We aimed to determine whether lipoproteins apolipoproteins A1 and B1 (Apo-A1 and Apo-B1 have stronger associations with DR in contrast to conventionally measured low-density lipoprotein (LDL and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Materials and Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study and studied 117 patients. Serum lipid profile was assessed by autoanalyzer. Serum Apo-A1 and Apo-B were measured using immunoturbidimetric kit on an autoanalyzer. Apo-B/A1 ratio was calculated. Retinopathy was graded from the digital retinal photographs, taken with nonmydriatic auto fundus camera and classified according to International Clinical DR Disease Severity Scale. Results: Mean Apo-A1 for mild, moderate, severe retinopathy, and proliferative DR (PDR shows a significant negative correlation (P = 0.001 with severity of retinopathy. Mean Apo-B for mild, moderate, severe, PDR displayed a significant positive correlation with severity of retinopathy (P = 0.001. Mean Apo-B/A1 for mild, moderate, severe, PDR showed highly significant positive correlation with severity of retinopathy (P < 0.001. In contrast, mean LDL for mild, moderate, severe, PDR showed insignificant association with severity of DR (P = 0.081. Conclusion: Apo-A1 and Apo-B have a stronger association with the development of DR than traditional lipids and can thus facilitate early detection and treatment of the disease.

Relationships among Negative Emotionality, Responsive Parenting and Early Socio-Cognitive Development in Korean Children

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Cha, Kijoo

2017-01-01

The present study examined the interplay among negative emotionality, responsive parenting and socio-cognitive developmental outcomes (i.e., communication, personal-social and problem-solving outcomes) in about 1620 Korean children using three waves of longitudinal data spanning the first 2 years of their life. Results from the Structural Equation…

Links between Chinese Mothers' Parental Beliefs and Responses to Children's Expression of Negative Emotions

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Siu Mui

2012-01-01

This study investigated relations between parental beliefs and mothers' reported responses to their children's negative emotions. Altogether 189 Chinese mothers of children aged six to eight years were interviewed in group sessions using structured questionnaires. It was found that Chinese mothers endorsed Guan, the Chinese parental beliefs. They…

Negative affectivity in cardiovascular disease: Evaluating Type D personality assessment using item response theory

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Emons, Wilco H.M.; Meijer, R.R.; Denollet, Johan

2007-01-01

Objective: Individuals with increased levels of both negative affectivity (NA) and social inhibition (SI)—referred to as type-D personality—are at increased risk of adverse cardiac events. We used item response theory (IRT) to evaluate NA, SI, and type-D personality as measured by the DS14. The

Spectral response variation of a negative-electron-affinity photocathode in the preparation process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Lei; Du Yujie; Chang Benkang; Yunsheng Qian

2006-01-01

In order to research the spectral response variation of a negative electron affinity (NEA) photocathode in the preparation process, we have done two experiments on a transmission-type GaAs photocathode.First, an automatic spectral response recording system is described, which is used to take spectral response curves during the activation procedure of the photocathode. By this system, the spectral response curves of a GaAs:Cs-Ophotocathode measured in situ are presented. Then, after the cathode is sealed with a microchannel plate and a fluorescence screen into the image tube, we measure the spectral response of the tube by another measurement instrument. By way of comparing and analyzing these curves, we can find the typical variation in spectral-responses.The reasons for the variation are discussed. Based on these curves, spectral matching factors of a GaAs cathode for green vegetation and rough concrete are calculated. The visual ranges of night-vision goggles under specific circumstances are estimated. The results show that the spectral response of the NEA photocathode degraded in the sealing process, especially at long wavelengths. The variation has also influenced the whole performance of the intensifier tube

CBL-interacting protein kinase 6 negatively regulates immune response to Pseudomonas syringae in Arabidopsis.

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Sardar, Atish; Nandi, Ashis Kumar; Chattopadhyay, Debasis

2017-06-15

Cytosolic calcium ion (Ca2+) is an essential mediator of the plant innate immune response. Here, we report that a calcium-regulated protein kinase Calcineurin B-like protein (CBL)-interacting protein kinase 6 (CIPK6) functions as a negative regulator of immunity against the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae in Arabidopsis thaliana. Arabidopsis lines with compromised expression of CIPK6 exhibited enhanced disease resistance to the bacterial pathogen and to P. syringae harboring certain but not all avirulent effectors, while restoration of CIPK6 expression resulted in abolition of resistance. Plants overexpressing CIPK6 were more susceptible to P. syringae. Enhanced resistance in the absence of CIPK6 was accompanied by increased accumulation of salicylic acid and elevated expression of defense marker genes. Salicylic acid accumulation was essential for improved immunity in the absence of CIPK6. CIPK6 negatively regulated the oxidative burst associated with perception of pathogen-associated microbial patterns (PAMPs) and bacterial effectors. Accelerated and enhanced activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade in response to bacterial and fungal elicitors was observed in the absence of CIPK6. The results of this study suggested that CIPK6 negatively regulates effector-triggered and PAMP-triggered immunity in Arabidopsis. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.

FcεRI γ-Chain Negatively Modulates Dectin-1 Responses in Dendritic Cells

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Yi-Gen Pan

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The inhibitory effect of immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif (ITAM-containing adapters DAP12 and FcεRI γ-chain (FcRγ has been found in many immune functions. Herein, we have further explored the role of these adapters in C-type lectin receptors response. We identified that FcRγ, but not DAP12, could negatively regulate the Dectin-1 responses in dendritic cells (DCs. Loss of FcRγ or both DAP12 and FcRγ enhanced the maturation and cytokine production in DCs upon Dectin-1 activation compared to normal cells, whereas DCs lacking only DAP12 showed little changes. In addition, increments of T cell activation and T helper 17 polarization induced by FcRγ-deficient DCs were observed both in vitro and in vivo. Examining the Dectin-1 signaling, we revealed that the activations of several signaling molecules were augmented in FcRγ-deficient DCs stimulated with Dectin-1 ligands. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the association of phosphatases SHP-1 and PTEN with FcRγ may contribute to the negative regulation of FcRγ in Dectin-1 activation in DCs. These results extend the inhibitory effect of ITAM-containing adapters to Dectin-1 response in immune functions, even though Dectin-1 contains an ITAM-like intracellular domain. According to the role of Dectin-1 in responding to microbes and tumor cells, our finding may have applications in the development of vaccine and cancer therapy.

Effects of a chronic stress treatment on vaccinal response in lambs.

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Destrez, A; Boissy, A; Guilloteau, L; Andanson, S; Souriau, A; Laroucau, K; Chaillou, E; Deiss, V

2017-05-01

Farming systems can expose animals to chronic mild stress which is known to induce negative affective state. Affective state in animals, as in humans, can be assessed through behavioral cues. This study aimed to describe the effect of a chronic mild stress, known to induce a negative affective state, on sheep health through their response to vaccination. The study used 15 lambs subjected to a model of chronic mild stress for 15 weeks and 15 lambs reared under conventional farming as a control group. After 7 weeks of stressful treatment, the lambs were individually exposed to a judgment bias test to assess a putative stress-induced 'pessimism.' After 15 weeks of stressful treatment, antibody immune response was measured after an injection of a live vaccine challenge (Chlamydia abortus attenuated vaccine strain 1B). Stressed lambs displayed a pessimistic-like perception in the judgment bias test, revealing a negative affective state. Stressed and control animals showed different immunological reactions to vaccine challenge: stressed sheep had lower hemoglobin concentrations and higher platelet, granulocyte and acute-phase protein concentrations. Antibody response induced by the vaccine strain was not different between stressed and control sheep. Our results suggest that negative affective state induced by chronic stress treatment may induce a stronger inflammatory response to vaccine challenge in sheep. Improvement of animal health may be achieved through consideration of stressors that may affect the emotional and immunological state of sheep.

Resting RSA Is Associated with Natural and Self-Regulated Responses to Negative Emotional Stimuli

Science.gov (United States)

Demaree, Heath A.; Robinson, Jennifer L.; Everhart, D. Erik; Schmeichel, Brandon J.

2004-01-01

Resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was assessed among 111 adult participants. These individuals were then asked to watch a positive or negative affective film in either a natural manner or while exaggerating their facial response. Facial reactions to the film were video-recorded and subsequently rated in terms of facial affect.…

Negative psychological responses of injury and rehabilitation adherence effects on return to play in competitive athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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Ivarsson A

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Andreas Ivarsson,1 Ulrika Tranaeus,2,3 Urban Johnson,1 Andreas Stenling 4 1Center of Research on Welfare, Health and Sport, School of Health and Welfare, Halmstad University, Halmstad, 2Performance and Training Unit, The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GIH, 3Musculoskeletal & Sports Injury Epidemiology Center, IMM, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 4Department of Psychology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden Abstract: Previous research offers evidence that psychological factors influence an injured athlete during the rehabilitation process. Our first objective was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the results from all published studies that examined the relationships among negative affective responses after sport injuries, rehabilitation adherence, and return to play (RTP. The second objective was to use a meta-analytic path analysis to investigate whether an indirect effect existed between negative affective responses and RTP through rehabilitation adherence. This literature review resulted in seven studies providing 14 effect sizes. The results from the meta-analysis showed that negative affective responses had a negative effect on successful RTP, whereas rehabilitation adherence had a positive effect on RTP. The results from the meta-analytic path analysis showed a weak and nonsignificant indirect effect of negative affective responses on RTP via rehabilitation adherence. These results underline the importance of providing supportive environments for injured athletes to increase the chances of successful RTP via a decrease in negative affective responses and increase in rehabilitation adherence. Keywords: affective responses, rehabilitation behaviors, return to play, sport injuries

A Stronger Reason for the Right to Sign Languages

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Trovato, Sara

2013-01-01

Is the right to sign language only the right to a minority language? Holding a capability (not a disability) approach, and building on the psycholinguistic literature on sign language acquisition, I make the point that this right is of a stronger nature, since only sign languages can guarantee that each deaf child will properly develop the…

Individual Differences in the Habitual Use of Cognitive Reappraisal Predict the Reward-related Feedback Negativity

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Liyang eSai

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Recent studies have shown that instructed cognitive reappraisal can regulate the neural processing of reward. However, it is still unclear whether the habitual use of cognitive reappraisal in everyday life can influence brain activity associated with reward processing. In the present study, participant’s neural responses to reward were measured using electroencephalography (EEG recorded during a gambling task, while their tendency to use cognitive reappraisal was assessed using the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ. Event-related potential (ERP results indicated that losses on the gambling task elicited greater negative reward-related feedback negativity (FN than gains. The differential FN between losses and gains was significantly correlated with cognitive reappraisal scores across participants, such that individuals with a higher tendency to use cognitive reappraisal showed stronger reward processing (i.e. amplified FN difference between losses and gains. This correlation remained significant after controlling for expressive suppression scores. However, expressive suppression per se was not correlated with FN differences. Taken together, these results suggest that the habitual use of cognitive reappraisal influences the neural processing of reward.

Parenting stress mediates the association between negative affectivity and harsh parenting: A longitudinal dyadic analysis.

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Le, Yunying; Fredman, Steffany J; Feinberg, Mark E

2017-09-01

The current study examined parenting stress (disaggregated into personal distress and child rearing stress) at 12 months postpartum as a mediator of the longitudinal association between parental negative affectivity at 6 months postpartum and harsh parenting at 3 years postpartum for first-time parents with a child transitioning from late toddlerhood to the early preschool years. Analyses were conducted using Mediation for Actor Partner Interdependence Modeling in a sample of 164 couples who participated in a randomized controlled trial of a universal, couple-based transition to parenthood program. There were indirect actor effects of negative affect on a parent's own harsh parenting through both dimensions of parenting stress, with a stronger mediating effect for personal distress than child rearing stress. There were also indirect partner effects of negative affect on one's partner's harsh parenting through the partner's parenting stress, with a stronger indirect partner effect from mothers' negative affect to fathers' harsh parenting than vice versa. Specifically, the mediating effect of personal distress was found for both mothers and fathers, whereas the mediating effect of child rearing stress was found from mothers' negative affect to fathers' harsh parenting only. Findings highlight the importance of a dyadic approach in examining the longitudinal association between negative affect and harsh parenting and suggest that reducing parenting stress in the first year postpartum may decrease the risk of future harsh parenting among couples in which one or both partners experience negative affectivity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Monetary Reward and Punishment to Response Inhibition Modulate Activation and Synchronization Within the Inhibitory Brain Network

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Rupesh K. Chikara

2018-03-01

Full Text Available A reward or punishment can modulate motivation and emotions, which in turn affect cognitive processing. The present simultaneous functional magnetic resonance imaging-electroencephalography study examines neural mechanisms of response inhibition under the influence of a monetary reward or punishment by implementing a modified stop-signal task in a virtual battlefield scenario. The participants were instructed to play as snipers who open fire at a terrorist target but withhold shooting in the presence of a hostage. The participants performed the task under three different feedback conditions in counterbalanced order: a reward condition where each successfully withheld response added a bonus (i.e., positive feedback to the startup credit, a punishment condition where each failure in stopping deduced a penalty (i.e., negative feedback, and a no-feedback condition where response outcome had no consequences and served as a control setting. Behaviorally both reward and punishment conditions led to significantly down-regulated inhibitory function in terms of the critical stop-signal delay. As for the neuroimaging results, increased activities were found for the no-feedback condition in regions previously reported to be associated with response inhibition, including the right inferior frontal gyrus and the pre-supplementary motor area. Moreover, higher activation of the lingual gyrus, posterior cingulate gyrus (PCG and inferior parietal lobule were found in the reward condition, while stronger activation of the precuneus gyrus was found in the punishment condition. The positive feedback was also associated with stronger changes of delta, theta, and alpha synchronization in the PCG than were the negative or no-feedback conditions. These findings depicted the intertwining relationship between response inhibition and motivation networks.

Comparison of Tuberculin Skin Test result and interferon gamma response to human PPD in BCG scar positive and negative children.

Science.gov (United States)

Sayyahfar, Shirin; Karimi, Abdollah; Fahimzad, Alireza; Shamshiri, Ahmad Reza

2014-03-01

The aim of this study is to compare Tuberculin Skin Test (TST) result and interferon gamma response to human PPD (purified protein derivative), in scar positive and scar negative BCG-vaccinated children. Between August 2007 and May 2008 a total of 236 children aged 1-168 months (mean 21 months) admitted to Mofid Children's Hospital, Tehran, Iran, were enrolled in a cross-sectional study. Each patient was examined for BCG vaccine scar and tested with TST and human PPD-based Interferon Gamma Release Assay (IGRA). Two hundred and twenty one cases out of 236 (44% female, 1-168 months, mean age 21 months) were scar positive of whom 95% TST result was negative. Human PPD-based IGRA was positive in 110 (49.8%), negative in 85 (38.4 %) and indeterminate in 26 (11.8%) of scar positive patients. Fifteen children (40% female, 1-156 months; mean age 42 months) were scar negative. All the scar negative cases were TST negative. Human PPD-based IGRA was positive in 10 (66.7%), negative in 4 (26.7%) and indeterminate in 1 (6.7%) of scar negative patients. Immune responsiveness to human PPD antigens in scar positive and negative children may not correspond with results of the Tuberculin Skin Test. Copyright © 2013 Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The asymmetrical force of persuasive knowledge across the positive-negative divide.

Science.gov (United States)

Nordmo, Mads; Selart, Marcus

2015-01-01

In two experimental studies we explore to what extent the general effects of positive and negative framing also apply to positive and negative persuasion. Our results reveal that negative persuasion induces substantially higher levels of skepticism and awareness of being subjected to a persuasion attempt. Furthermore, we demonstrate that in positive persuasion, more claims lead to stronger persuasion, while in negative persuasion, the numerosity of claims carries no significant effect. We interpret this finding along the lines of a satiety-model of persuasion. Finally, using diluted, or low strength claims in a persuasion attempt, we reveal a significant interaction between dispositional reactance and dilution of claims on persuasion knowledge. The interaction states that diluted claims increase the awareness of being subjected to a persuasion attempt, but only for those with a high dispositional level of reactance.

The asymmetrical force of persuasive knowledge across the positive-negative divide

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mads eNordmo

2015-09-01

Full Text Available In two experimental studies we explore to what extent the general effects of positive and negative framing also apply to positive and negative persuasion. Our results reveal that negative persuasion induces substantially higher levels of skepticism and awareness of being subjected to a persuasion attempt. Furthermore, we demonstrate that in positive persuasion, more claims lead to stronger persuasion, while in negative persuasion, the numerosity of claims carries no significant effect. We interpret this finding along the lines of a satiety-model of persuasion. Finally, using diluted, or low strength claims in a persuasion attempt, we reveal a significant interaction between dispositional reactance and dilution of claims on persuasion knowledge. The interaction states that diluted claims increase the awareness of being subjected to a persuasion attempt, but only for those with a high dispositional level of reactance.

The asymmetrical force of persuasive knowledge across the positive–negative divide

Science.gov (United States)

Nordmo, Mads; Selart, Marcus

2015-01-01

In two experimental studies we explore to what extent the general effects of positive and negative framing also apply to positive and negative persuasion. Our results reveal that negative persuasion induces substantially higher levels of skepticism and awareness of being subjected to a persuasion attempt. Furthermore, we demonstrate that in positive persuasion, more claims lead to stronger persuasion, while in negative persuasion, the numerosity of claims carries no significant effect. We interpret this finding along the lines of a satiety-model of persuasion. Finally, using diluted, or low strength claims in a persuasion attempt, we reveal a significant interaction between dispositional reactance and dilution of claims on persuasion knowledge. The interaction states that diluted claims increase the awareness of being subjected to a persuasion attempt, but only for those with a high dispositional level of reactance. PMID:26388821

Stronger vection in junior high school children than in adults.

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Shirai, Nobu; Imura, Tomoko; Tamura, Rio; Seno, Takeharu

2014-01-01

Previous studies have shown that even elementary school-aged children (7 and 11 years old) experience visually induced perception of illusory self-motion (vection) (Lepecq et al., 1995, Perception, 24, 435-449) and that children of a similar age (mean age = 9.2 years) experience more rapid and stronger vection than do adults (Shirai et al., 2012, Perception, 41, 1399-1402). These findings imply that although elementary school-aged children experience vection, this ability is subject to further development. To examine the subsequent development of vection, we compared junior high school students' (N = 11, mean age = 14.4 years) and adults' (N = 10, mean age = 22.2 years) experiences of vection. Junior high school students reported significantly stronger vection than did adults, suggesting that the perceptual experience of junior high school students differs from that of adults with regard to vection and that this ability undergoes gradual changes over a relatively long period of development.

Self-focused attention affects subsequent processing of positive (but not negative) performance appraisals.

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Holzman, Jacob B; Valentiner, David P

2016-03-01

Cognitive-behavioral models highlight the conjoint roles of self-focused attention (SFA), post-event processing (PEP), and performance appraisals in the maintenance of social anxiety. SFA, PEP, and biased performance appraisals are related to social anxiety; however, limited research has examined how SFA affects information-processing following social events. The current study examined whether SFA affects the relationships between performance appraisals and PEP following a social event.. 137 participants with high (n = 72) or low (n = 65) social anxiety were randomly assigned to conditions of high SFA or low SFA while engaging in a standardized social performance. Subsequent performance appraisals and PEP were measured. Immediate performance appraisals were not affected by SFA. High levels of SFA led to a stronger, inverse relationship between immediate positive performance appraisals and subsequent negative PEP. High levels of SFA also led to a stronger, inverse relationship between negative PEP and changes in positive performance appraisals.. Future research should examine whether the current findings, which involved a standardized social performance event, extend to interaction events as well as in a clinical sample. These findings suggest that SFA affects the processing of positive information following a social performance event. SFA is particularly important for understanding how negative PEP undermines positive performance appraisals.. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Understanding less than nothing: Children’s neural response to negative numbers shifts across age and accuracy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margaret M Gullick

2013-09-01

Full Text Available We examined the brain activity underlying the development of our understanding of negative numbers, which are amounts lacking direct physical counterparts. Children performed a paired comparison task with positive and negative numbers during an fMRI session. As previously shown in adults, both pre-instruction fifth graders and post-instruction seventh graders demonstrated typical behavioral and neural distance effects to negative numbers, where response times and parietal and frontal activity increased as comparison distance decreased. We then determined the factors impacting the distance effect in each age group. Behaviorally, the fifth grader distance effect for negatives was significantly predicted only by positive comparison accuracy, indicating that children who were generally better at working with numbers were better at comparing negatives. In seventh graders, negative comparison accuracy significantly predicted their distance effect, indicating that children who were better at working with negative numbers demonstrated a more typical distance effect. Across children, as age increased, the negative number distance effect increased in the bilateral IPS and decreased frontally, indicating a frontoparietal shift consistent with previous numerical development literature. In contrast, as task accuracy increased, the parietal distance effect increased in the left IPS and decreased in the right, possibly indicating a change from an approximate understanding of negatives’ values to a more exact, precise representation (particularly supported by the left IPS with increasing expertise. These shifts separately indicate the effects of increasing maturity generally in numeric processing and specifically in negative number understanding.

EGR-1 and DUSP-1 are important negative regulators of pro-allergic responses in airway epithelium

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Golebski, Korneliusz; van Egmond, Danielle; de Groot, Esther J.; Roschmann, Kristina I. L.; Fokkens, Wytske J.; van Drunen, Cornelis M.

2015-01-01

Background: Primary nasal epithelium of house dust mite allergic individuals is in a permanently activated inflammatory transcriptional state. Objective: To investigate whether a deregulated expression of EGR-1 and/or DUSP-1, two potential negative regulators of pro-inflammatory responses, could

Twice the negativity bias and half the positivity offset: Evaluative responses to emotional information in depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Gollan, Jackie K; Hoxha, Denada; Hunnicutt-Ferguson, Kallio; Norris, Catherine J; Rosebrock, Laina; Sankin, Lindsey; Cacioppo, John

2016-09-01

Humans have the dual capacity to assign a slightly pleasant valence to neutral stimuli (the positivity offset) to encourage approach behaviors, as well as to assign a higher negative valence to unpleasant images relative to the positive valence to equally arousing and extreme pleasant images (the negativity bias) to facilitate defensive strategies. We conducted an experimental psychopathology study to examine the extent to which the negativity bias and the positivity offset differ in participants with and without major depression.. Forty-one depressed and thirty-six healthy participants were evaluated using a structured clinical interview for DSM-IV Axis I disorders, questionnaires, and a computerized task designed to measure implicit affective responses to unpleasant, neutral, and pleasant stimuli. The negativity bias was significantly higher and the positivity offset was significantly lower in depressed relative to healthy participants.. Entry criteria enrolling medication-free participants with minimal DSM-IV comorbidity may limit generalizability of the findings. This study advances our understanding of the positive and negative valence systems in depression, highlighting the irregularities in the positive valence system.. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Negative energy in string theory and cosmic censorship violation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hertog, Thomas; Horowitz, Gary T.; Maeda, Kengo

2004-01-01

We find asymptotically anti-de Sitter solutions in N=8 supergravity which have a negative total energy. This is possible since the boundary conditions required for the positive energy theorem are stronger than those required for a finite mass (and allowed by string theory). But the stability of the anti-de Sitter vacuum is still ensured by the positivity of a modified energy, which includes an extra surface term. Some of the negative energy solutions describe the classical evolution of nonsingular initial data to naked singularities. Since there is an open set of such solutions, cosmic censorship is violated generically in supergravity. Using the dual field theory description, we argue that these naked singularities will be resolved in the full string theory

Visual spatial attention enhances the amplitude of positive and negative fMRI responses to visual stimulation in an eccentricity-dependent manner

Science.gov (United States)

Bressler, David W.; Fortenbaugh, Francesca C.; Robertson, Lynn C.; Silver, Michael A.

2013-01-01

Endogenous visual spatial attention improves perception and enhances neural responses to visual stimuli at attended locations. Although many aspects of visual processing differ significantly between central and peripheral vision, little is known regarding the neural substrates of the eccentricity dependence of spatial attention effects. We measured amplitudes of positive and negative fMRI responses to visual stimuli as a function of eccentricity in a large number of topographically-organized cortical areas. Responses to each stimulus were obtained when the stimulus was attended and when spatial attention was directed to a stimulus in the opposite visual hemifield. Attending to the stimulus increased both positive and negative response amplitudes in all cortical areas we studied: V1, V2, V3, hV4, VO1, LO1, LO2, V3A/B, IPS0, TO1, and TO2. However, the eccentricity dependence of these effects differed considerably across cortical areas. In early visual, ventral, and lateral occipital cortex, attentional enhancement of positive responses was greater for central compared to peripheral eccentricities. The opposite pattern was observed in dorsal stream areas IPS0 and putative MT homolog TO1, where attentional enhancement of positive responses was greater in the periphery. Both the magnitude and the eccentricity dependence of attentional modulation of negative fMRI responses closely mirrored that of positive responses across cortical areas. PMID:23562388

Treatment non-response: Associations with smoking expectancies among treatment-seeking smokers.

Science.gov (United States)

Garey, Lorra; Taha, Samar A; Kauffman, Brooke Y; Manning, Kara F; Neighbors, Clayton; Schmidt, Norman B; Zvolensky, Michael J

2017-10-01

Despite the high rate of smoking cessation treatment non-response, relatively little empirical work has examined predictors of treatment non-response. The present study sought to explore the effect of smoking outcome expectancies on treatment response in a sample of treatment-seeking adult daily smokers (N=182; 53.3% female; M age =40.67; SD=13.63). Results indicated that expectancies for smoking to reduce negative affect were related to an increased likelihood of treatment non-response (OR=0.73, CI: 0.54, 0.98). These findings remained significant after controlling for sex, presence of Axis I disorder, tobacco-related health problems, tobacco dependence, anxiety sensitivity, and condition assignment as well as other smoking expectancy dimensions. Post hoc analyses revealed that this relation was stronger for smokers in the integrated care condition vs. the standard care condition (Interaction: OR=1.69, CI: 1.05, 2.73). Additionally, expectancies for smoking to enhance positive affect and provide sensory satisfaction were associated with an increased likelihood of treatment response in the standard care condition. The current findings suggest expectancies that smoking will alleviate negative affect may be a risk factor of smoking cessation treatment non-response. Additionally, findings provide evidence that the relation between smoking expectancies and treatment non-response may differ by smoking cessation treatment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Lateralization of cortical negative motor areas.

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Borggraefe, Ingo; Catarino, Claudia B; Rémi, Jan; Vollmar, Christian; Peraud, Aurelia; Winkler, Peter A; Noachtar, Soheyl

2016-10-01

The lateral and mesial aspects of the central and frontal cortex were studied by direct electrical stimulation of the cortex in epilepsy surgery candidates in order to determine the localization of unilateral and bilateral negative motor responses. Results of electrical cortical stimulation were examined in epilepsy surgery candidates in whom invasive electrodes were implanted. The exact localization of subdural electrodes was defined by fusion of 3-dimensional reconstructed MRI and CT images in 13 patients and by analysis of plane skull X-rays and intraoperative visual localization of the electrodes in another 7 patients. Results of electrical stimulation of the cortex were evaluated in a total of 128 patients in whom invasive electrodes were implanted for planning resective epilepsy surgery. Twenty patients, in whom negative motor responses were obtained, were included in the study. Bilateral upper limb negative motor responses were more often elicited from stimulation of the mesial frontal cortex whereas stimulation of the lateral central cortex leads to contralateral upper limb negative motor responses (pfrontal gyrus whereas contralateral negative motor responses localized predominantly in the anterior part of the precentral gyrus (pgyrus and the mesial fronto-central cortex showing functional differences with regard to unilateral and bilateral upper limb representation. The lateral fronto-central negative motor area serves predominantly contralateral upper limb motor control whereas the mesial frontal negative motor area represents bilateral upper limb movement control. Copyright © 2016 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

β2-adrenergic receptor-mediated negative regulation of group 2 innate lymphoid cell responses.

Science.gov (United States)

Moriyama, Saya; Brestoff, Jonathan R; Flamar, Anne-Laure; Moeller, Jesper B; Klose, Christoph S N; Rankin, Lucille C; Yudanin, Naomi A; Monticelli, Laurel A; Putzel, Gregory Garbès; Rodewald, Hans-Reimer; Artis, David

2018-03-02

The type 2 inflammatory response is induced by various environmental and infectious stimuli. Although recent studies identified group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) as potent sources of type 2 cytokines, the molecular pathways controlling ILC2 responses are incompletely defined. Here we demonstrate that murine ILC2s express the β 2 -adrenergic receptor (β 2 AR) and colocalize with adrenergic neurons in the intestine. β 2 AR deficiency resulted in exaggerated ILC2 responses and type 2 inflammation in intestinal and lung tissues. Conversely, β 2 AR agonist treatment was associated with impaired ILC2 responses and reduced inflammation in vivo. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that the β 2 AR pathway is a cell-intrinsic negative regulator of ILC2 responses through inhibition of cell proliferation and effector function. Collectively, these data provide the first evidence of a neuronal-derived regulatory circuit that limits ILC2-dependent type 2 inflammation. Copyright © 2018 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

Mapping and characterization of positive and negative BOLD responses to visual stimulation in multiple brain regions at 7T.

Science.gov (United States)

Jorge, João; Figueiredo, Patrícia; Gruetter, Rolf; van der Zwaag, Wietske

2018-02-20

External stimuli and tasks often elicit negative BOLD responses in various brain regions, and growing experimental evidence supports that these phenomena are functionally meaningful. In this work, the high sensitivity available at 7T was explored to map and characterize both positive (PBRs) and negative BOLD responses (NBRs) to visual checkerboard stimulation, occurring in various brain regions within and beyond the visual cortex. Recently-proposed accelerated fMRI techniques were employed for data acquisition, and procedures for exclusion of large draining vein contributions, together with ICA-assisted denoising, were included in the analysis to improve response estimation. Besides the visual cortex, significant PBRs were found in the lateral geniculate nucleus and superior colliculus, as well as the pre-central sulcus; in these regions, response durations increased monotonically with stimulus duration, in tight covariation with the visual PBR duration. Significant NBRs were found in the visual cortex, auditory cortex, default-mode network (DMN) and superior parietal lobule; NBR durations also tended to increase with stimulus duration, but were significantly less sustained than the visual PBR, especially for the DMN and superior parietal lobule. Responses in visual and auditory cortex were further studied for checkerboard contrast dependence, and their amplitudes were found to increase monotonically with contrast, linearly correlated with the visual PBR amplitude. Overall, these findings suggest the presence of dynamic neuronal interactions across multiple brain regions, sensitive to stimulus intensity and duration, and demonstrate the richness of information obtainable when jointly mapping positive and negative BOLD responses at a whole-brain scale, with ultra-high field fMRI. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

DMPD: Lipopolysaccharide sensing an important factor in the innate immune response toGram-negative bacterial infections: benefits and hazards of LPShypersensitivity. [Dynamic Macrophage Pathway CSML Database

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available se toGram-negative bacterial infections: benefits and hazards of LPShypersensitivity. Freudenberg MA, Tchapt...portant factor in the innate immune response toGram-negative bacterial infections: benefits and hazards of L...une response toGram-negative bacterial infections: benefits and hazards of LPShyp

Understanding consumer's responses to negative emotions related to crowding on satisfaction and impulse purchase in retail: the mediating role of coping

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marlette Cassia Oliveira Ferreira

Full Text Available Abstract The perception of crowding, understood as an individual's response to crowds, can be observed in retail environments and influences positive and negative emotions. In this research we test the mediating effect of coping – rational strategies adopted to deal with negative emotions – in the relationship between negative emotions (resulting from crowding perception and consumer behavior (measured by impulse purchase and satisfaction. The findings related to coping explain to what extent there is a positive response to human density in the retail environment. For this, a theoretical model was developed which includes the relationships among perception of crowding, positive and negative emotions, and consumer behavior. The model enhances the understanding of the crowding phenomenon by including relationships mediated by an oppositional strategy (coping dimension between negative emotions and consumer behaviors. To test the theoretical model, a survey was conducted with 456 respondents and hypothesis tests using structural equation modeling. It was evidenced that crowding perception has more robust effects on negative emotions than positive emotions. It is emphasized that with the inclusion of opposition mediation, the weak direct relationship between negative emotions and behaviors, becomes a positive relationship between negative emotion and impulse purchase, and negative emotion and satisfaction. In addition to the theoretical contributions of the tested model, future research and managerial implications are proposed at the end of the article.

Body image related negative interpretation bias in anorexia nervosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Brockmeyer, Timo; Anderle, Alisa; Schmidt, Hagen; Febry, Stephanie; Wünsch-Leiteritz, Wally; Leiteritz, Andreas; Friederich, Hans-Christoph

2018-05-01

A distorted body image and pronounced body dissatisfaction are hallmarks of anorexia nervosa (AN) that typically result in dietary restraint and compensatory behaviours. Cognitive biases such as negative interpretation bias are considered key maintaining factors of these maladaptive cognitions and behaviours. However, little attention has been paid to empirical tests whether negative interpretation bias exists in AN and to what degree it is associated with symptom severity. Participants in the present study were 40 women with AN and 40 healthy women with no history of an eating disorder. Body-related negative interpretation bias (i.e., a tendency to interpret ambiguous information about the own body in a negative way) was measured by a Scrambled Sentences Task. Patients with AN showed a stronger body-related negative interpretation bias than healthy controls. Within both groups, negative interpretation bias correlated strongly and positively with AN symptom severity and these effects were not moderated by levels of depressive symptoms. The findings support the idea that biased interpretation of body-related information is associated with the specific psychopathology of AN. Targeted, computerised interventions (e.g. interpretation bias modification) may help to alter these dysfunctional cognitive schemas that lie at the heart of AN. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Negative role of malnutrition in cell-mediated immune response: Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP) in a severely malnourished, HIV-negative patient with anorexia nervosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanachi, Mouna; Bohem, Vanessa; Bemer, Pauline; Kayser, Nadja; de Truchis, Pierre; Melchior, Jean-Claude

2018-06-01

It is generally acknowledged that malnutrition is a propensity factor for secondary infections in different clinical situations (malnutrition-associated infections in hospitalized patients and malnourished children in developing countries). However, it is not clear how malnutrition might facilitate the development of opportunistic infections in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative patients without a definite etiology (disease or treatment) of impaired cell-mediated immune response. We report here on a case of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia in an HIV-negative patient suffering from anorexia nervosa with extreme malnutrition, which had a favorable outcome despite the severity of her respiratory failure. This report indicates the need for the early screening of nutritional status and rapid treatment initiation in patients with malnutrition, as well as the determination of opportunistic infections in the event of a low lymphocyte count. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

The Context Matters: Outcome Probability and Expectation Mismatch Modulate the Feedback Negativity When Self-Evaluation of Response Correctness Is Possible.

Science.gov (United States)

Leue, Anja; Cano Rodilla, Carmen; Beauducel, André

2015-01-01

Individuals typically evaluate whether their performance and the obtained feedback match. Previous research has shown that feedback negativity (FN) depends on outcome probability and feedback valence. It is, however, less clear to what extent previous effects of outcome probability on FN depend on self-evaluations of response correctness. Therefore, we investigated the effects of outcome probability on FN amplitude in a simple go/no-go task that allowed for the self-evaluation of response correctness. We also investigated effects of performance incompatibility and feedback valence. In a sample of N = 22 participants, outcome probability was manipulated by means of precues, feedback valence by means of monetary feedback, and performance incompatibility by means of feedback that induced a match versus mismatch with individuals' performance. We found that the 100% outcome probability condition induced a more negative FN following no-loss than the 50% outcome probability condition. The FN following loss was more negative in the 50% compared to the 100% outcome probability condition. Performance-incompatible loss resulted in a more negative FN than performance-compatible loss. Our results indicate that the self-evaluation of the correctness of responses should be taken into account when the effects of outcome probability and expectation mismatch on FN are investigated.

Avoidance orientation and the escalation of negative communication in intimate relationships.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuster, Monika; Bernecker, Katharina; Backes, Sabine; Brandstätter, Veronika; Nussbeck, Fridtjof W; Bradbury, Thomas N; Martin, Mike; Sutter-Stickel, Dorothee; Bodenmann, Guy

2015-08-01

Avoidance goals heighten the salience of negative social experiences, and in intimate relationships such an orientation may contribute to communication difficulties and the perpetuation of avoidance. We therefore hypothesized that individuals with stronger avoidance goals would be particularly prone to engage in escalating levels of negative communication with their intimate partner, and we tested this prediction by conducting sequential analyses on videotaped observational data (28,470 observations) collected from 365 heterosexual couples engaging in a relationship-related conflict. While less avoidance-oriented spouses showed a decline in their likelihood of negative communication over the course of the 8-min conflict discussion, the likelihood that more avoidance-oriented spouses would display negative communication behaviors remained at a high level. The likelihood of negative communication even increased when avoidance-oriented spouses were confronted with negative communication behavior of their partners. The effects of avoidance orientation were independent of relationship satisfaction and neuroticism. These findings demonstrate that avoidance goals underlie individuals' heightened reactivity to the partner's negative behavior, while also clarifying 1 possible reason why some individuals engage in communication behaviors that may prove maladaptive to their relationship. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

Are We Afraid of Different Categories of Stimuli in Identical Ways? Evidence from Skin Conductance Responses

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Jiongjiong

2013-01-01

Studies have shown that emotional pictures attract more attention than neutral pictures, and pictures of living stimuli have similar advantage in driving attention (vs. nonliving). However, factors of emotion, category and picture context are usually mixed so that whether living and nonliving categories elicit different skin conductance (SC) responses, in both conscious and unconscious conditions, remains to be clarified. In this study, participants were presented with negative and neutral pictures denoting different living and nonliving concepts in conscious (Experiments 1 and 2) and unconscious conditions (40ms, Experiment 3) when their SC responses were measured. The picture context was manipulated in Experiments 2 and 3 as half including human-related information. In three experiments, the emotional levels of different categories were matched in different and identical cohorts of participants. The results showed that living pictures in a negative, high-arousing dimension elicited stronger SC responses than nonliving pictures. When nonhuman animals and inanimate objects were compared, the increased SC responses to animals was obtained only for negative pictures without human contexts in the conscious condition, but regardless of human context in the unconscious condition. These results suggested that contextual information and level of conscious awareness are important to modulate the animate advantage in emotional processing. PMID:24039879

Neural Correlates of Attitude Change Following Positive and Negative Advertisements

Science.gov (United States)

Kato, Junko; Ide, Hiroko; Kabashima, Ikuo; Kadota, Hiroshi; Takano, Kouji; Kansaku, Kenji

2009-01-01

Understanding changes in attitudes towards others is critical to understanding human behaviour. Neuropolitical studies have found that the activation of emotion-related areas in the brain is linked to resilient political preferences, and neuroeconomic research has analysed the neural correlates of social preferences that favour or oppose consideration of intrinsic rewards. This study aims to identify the neural correlates in the prefrontal cortices of changes in political attitudes toward others that are linked to social cognition. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments have presented videos from previous electoral campaigns and television commercials for major cola brands and then used the subjects' self-rated affinity toward political candidates as behavioural indicators. After viewing negative campaign videos, subjects showing stronger fMRI activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex lowered their ratings of the candidate they originally supported more than did those with smaller fMRI signal changes in the same region. Subjects showing stronger activation in the medial prefrontal cortex tended to increase their ratings more than did those with less activation. The same regions were not activated by viewing negative advertisements for cola. Correlations between the self-rated values and the neural signal changes underscore the metric representation of observed decisions (i.e., whether to support or not) in the brain. This indicates that neurometric analysis may contribute to the exploration of the neural correlates of daily social behaviour. PMID:19503749

Dogs cannot bark: event-related brain responses to true and false negated statements as indicators of higher-order conscious processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Herbert, Cornelia; Kübler, Andrea

2011-01-01

The present study investigated event-related brain potentials elicited by true and false negated statements to evaluate if discrimination of the truth value of negated information relies on conscious processing and requires higher-order cognitive processing in healthy subjects across different levels of stimulus complexity. The stimulus material consisted of true and false negated sentences (sentence level) and prime-target expressions (word level). Stimuli were presented acoustically and no overt behavioral response of the participants was required. Event-related brain potentials to target words preceded by true and false negated expressions were analyzed both within group and at the single subject level. Across the different processing conditions (word pairs and sentences), target words elicited a frontal negativity and a late positivity in the time window from 600-1000 msec post target word onset. Amplitudes of both brain potentials varied as a function of the truth value of the negated expressions. Results were confirmed at the single-subject level. In sum, our results support recent suggestions according to which evaluation of the truth value of a negated expression is a time- and cognitively demanding process that cannot be solved automatically, and thus requires conscious processing. Our paradigm provides insight into higher-order processing related to language comprehension and reasoning in healthy subjects. Future studies are needed to evaluate if our paradigm also proves sensitive for the detection of consciousness in non-responsive patients.

Dogs cannot bark: event-related brain responses to true and false negated statements as indicators of higher-order conscious processing.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cornelia Herbert

Full Text Available The present study investigated event-related brain potentials elicited by true and false negated statements to evaluate if discrimination of the truth value of negated information relies on conscious processing and requires higher-order cognitive processing in healthy subjects across different levels of stimulus complexity. The stimulus material consisted of true and false negated sentences (sentence level and prime-target expressions (word level. Stimuli were presented acoustically and no overt behavioral response of the participants was required. Event-related brain potentials to target words preceded by true and false negated expressions were analyzed both within group and at the single subject level. Across the different processing conditions (word pairs and sentences, target words elicited a frontal negativity and a late positivity in the time window from 600-1000 msec post target word onset. Amplitudes of both brain potentials varied as a function of the truth value of the negated expressions. Results were confirmed at the single-subject level. In sum, our results support recent suggestions according to which evaluation of the truth value of a negated expression is a time- and cognitively demanding process that cannot be solved automatically, and thus requires conscious processing. Our paradigm provides insight into higher-order processing related to language comprehension and reasoning in healthy subjects. Future studies are needed to evaluate if our paradigm also proves sensitive for the detection of consciousness in non-responsive patients.

Reactions to perceived fairness: The impact of mortality salience and self-esteem on ratings of negative affect

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bos, K. van den

2001-01-01

In correspondence with terror management theory, the findings of two experiments show that reminders of death lead to stronger effects of perceived fairness on ratings of negative affect. Furthermore, in line with the theory''s self-esteem mechanism, results of Experiment 1 suggest that state

Emotional arousal and recognition memory are differentially reflected in pupil diameter responses during emotional memory for negative events in younger and older adults.

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Hämmerer, Dorothea; Hopkins, Alexandra; Betts, Matthew J; Maaß, Anne; Dolan, Ray J; Düzel, Emrah

2017-10-01

A better memory for negative emotional events is often attributed to a conjoint impact of increased arousal and noradrenergic modulation (NA). A decline in NA during aging is well documented but its impact on memory function during aging is unclear. Using pupil diameter (PD) as a proxy for NA, we examined age differences in memory for negative events in younger (18-30 years) and older (62-83 years) adults based on a segregation of early arousal to negative events, and later retrieval-related PD responses. In keeping with the hypothesis of reduced age-related NA influences, older adults showed attenuated induced PD responses to negative emotional events. The findings highlight a likely contribution of NA to negative emotional memory, mediated via arousal that may be compromised with aging. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Expression of negative emotional responses to the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake: Analysis of big data from social media].

Science.gov (United States)

Miura, Asako; Komori, Masashi; Matsumura, Naohiro; Maeda, Kazutoshi

2015-06-01

In this article, we investigated the expression of emotional responses to the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake by analyzing the frequency of negative emotional terms in tweets posted on Twitter, one of the most popular social media platforms. We focused on differences in time-series variations and diurnal changes between two kinds of disasters: natural disasters (earthquakes and tsunamis) and nuclear accidents. The number of tweets containing negative emotional responses increased sharply shortly after the first huge earthquake and decreased over time, whereas tweets about nuclear accidents showed no correlation with elapsed time. Expressions of anxiety about natural disasters had a circadian rhythm, with a peak at midnight, whereas expressions of anger about the nuclear accident were highly sensitive to critical events related to the accident. These findings were discussed in terms of similarities and differences compared to earlier studies on emotional responses in social media.

Stronger misdirection in curved than in straight motion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jorge eOtero-Millan

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Illusions developed by magicians are a rich and largely untapped source of insight into perception and cognition. Here we show that curved motion, as employed by the magician in a classic sleight of hand trick, generates stronger misdirection than rectilinear motion, and that this difference can be explained by the differential engagement of the smooth pursuit and the saccadic oculomotor systems. This research moreover exemplifies how the magician’s intuitive understanding of the spectator’s mindset can surpass that of the cognitive scientist in specific instances, and that observation-based behavioral insights developed by magicians are worthy of quantitative investigation in the neuroscience laboratory.

Endoglin negatively regulates transforming growth factor beta1-induced profibrotic responses in intestinal fibroblasts.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Burke, J P

2012-02-01

BACKGROUND: Fibroblasts isolated from strictures in Crohn\\'s disease (CD) exhibit reduced responsiveness to stimulation with transforming growth factor (TGF) beta1. TGF-beta1, acting through the smad pathway, is critical to fibroblast-mediated intestinal fibrosis. The membrane glycoprotein, endoglin, is a negative regulator of TGF-beta1. METHODS: Intestinal fibroblasts were cultured from seromuscular biopsies of patients undergoing intestinal resection for CD strictures or from control patients. Endoglin expression was assessed using confocal microscopy, flow cytometry and western blot. The effect of small interfering (si) RNA-mediated knockdown and plasmid-mediated overexpression of endoglin on fibroblast responsiveness to TGF-beta1 was assessed by examining smad phosphorylation, smad binding element (SBE) promoter activity, connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) expression and ability to contract collagen. RESULTS: Crohn\\'s stricture fibroblasts expressed increased constitutive cell-surface and whole-cell endoglin relative to control cells. Endoglin co-localized with filamentous actin. Fibroblasts treated with siRNA directed against endoglin exhibited enhanced TGF-beta1-mediated smad-3 phosphorylation, and collagen contraction. Cells transfected with an endoglin plasmid did not respond to TGF-beta1 by exhibiting SBE promoter activity or producing CTGF. CONCLUSION: Fibroblasts from strictures in CD express increased constitutive endoglin. Endoglin is a negative regulator of TGF-beta1 signalling in the intestinal fibroblast, modulating smad-3 phosphorylation, SBE promoter activity, CTGF production and collagen contraction.

Bell inequalities stronger than the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt inequality for three-level isotropic states

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ito, Tsuyoshi; Imai, Hiroshi; Avis, David

2006-01-01

We show that some two-party Bell inequalities with two-valued observables are stronger than the CHSH inequality for 3x3 isotropic states in the sense that they are violated by some isotropic states in the 3x3 system that do not violate the CHSH inequality. These Bell inequalities are obtained by applying triangular elimination to the list of known facet inequalities of the cut polytope on nine points. This gives a partial solution to an open problem posed by Collins and Gisin. The results of numerical optimization suggest that they are candidates for being stronger than the I 3322 Bell inequality for 3x3 isotropic states. On the other hand, we found no Bell inequalities stronger than the CHSH inequality for 2x2 isotropic states. In addition, we illustrate an inclusion relation among some Bell inequalities derived by triangular elimination

Plant diversity increases with the strength of negative density dependence at the global scale

Science.gov (United States)

LaManna, Joseph A.; Mangan, Scott A.; Alonso, Alfonso; Bourg, Norman; Brockelman, Warren Y.; Bunyavejchewin, Sarayudh; Chang, Li-Wan; Chiang, Jyh-Min; Chuyong, George B.; Clay, Keith; Condit, Richard; Cordell, Susan; Davies, Stuart J.; Furniss, Tucker J.; Giardina, Christian P.; Gunatilleke, I.A.U. Nimal; Gunatilleke, C.V. Savitri; He, Fangliang; Howe, Robert W.; Hubbell, Stephen P.; Hsieh, Chang-Fu; Inman-Narahari, Faith M.; Janik, David; Johnson, Daniel J.; Kenfack, David; Korte, Lisa; Kral, Kamil; Larson, Andrew J.; Lutz, James A.; McMahon, Sean M.; McShea, William J.; Memiaghe, Herve R.; Nathalang, Anuttara; Novotny, Vojtech; Ong, Perry S.; Orwig, David A.; Ostertag, Rebecca; Parker, Geoffrey G.; Phillips, Richard P.; Sack, Lawren; Sun, I-Fang; Tello, J. Sebastian; Thomas, Duncan W.; Turner, Benjamin L.; Vela Diaz, Dilys M.; Vrska, Tomas; Weiblen, George D.; Wolf, Amy; Yap, Sandra; Myers, Jonathan A.

2017-01-01

Theory predicts that higher biodiversity in the tropics is maintained by specialized interactions among plants and their natural enemies that result in conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD). By using more than 3000 species and nearly 2.4 million trees across 24 forest plots worldwide, we show that global patterns in tree species diversity reflect not only stronger CNDD at tropical versus temperate latitudes but also a latitudinal shift in the relationship between CNDD and species abundance. CNDD was stronger for rare species at tropical versus temperate latitudes, potentially causing the persistence of greater numbers of rare species in the tropics. Our study reveals fundamental differences in the nature of local-scale biotic interactions that contribute to the maintenance of species diversity across temperate and tropical communities.

Pathologic response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy predicts locoregional control in patients with triple negative breast cancer

OpenAIRE

Chen, Victor E.; Gillespie, Erin F.; Zakeri, Kaveh; Murphy, James D.; Yashar, Catheryn M.; Lu, Sharon; Einck, John P.

2017-01-01

Purpose: Our goal was to determine the impact of pathologic response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) on the subsequent risk of locoregional recurrence (LRR) and disease-free survival (DFS) in the setting of adjuvant radiation therapy. Methods and materials: This was an institutional review board–approved retrospective chart review of patients with clinical stage I-III breast cancer treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy, local surgery (breast conservat...

Neural Correlates of Response Inhibition and Conflict Control on Facial Expressions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tongran Liu

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Response inhibition and conflict control on affective information can be regarded as two important emotion regulation and cognitive control processes. The emotional Go/Nogo flanker paradigm was adopted and participant’s event-related potentials (ERPs were analyzed to investigate how response inhibition and conflict control interplayed. The behavioral findings revealed that participants showed higher accuracy to identify happy faces in congruent condition relative to that in incongruent condition. The electrophysiological results manifested that response inhibition and conflict control interplayed during the detection/conflict monitoring stage, and Nogo-N2 was more negative in the incongruent trials than the congruent trials. With regard to the inhibitory control/conflict resolution stage, Nogo responses induced greater frontal P3 and parietal P3 responses than Go responses did. The difference waveforms of N2 and parietal P3 showed that response inhibition and conflict control had distinct processes, and the multiple responses requiring both conflict control and response inhibition processes induced stronger monitoring and resolution processes than conflict control. The current study manifested that response inhibition and conflict control on emotional information required separable neural mechanisms during emotion regulation processes.

Mothers' responses to children's negative emotions and child emotion regulation: the moderating role of vagal suppression.

Science.gov (United States)

Perry, Nicole B; Calkins, Susan D; Nelson, Jackie A; Leerkes, Esther M; Marcovitch, Stuart

2012-07-01

The current study examined the moderating effect of children's cardiac vagal suppression on the association between maternal socialization of negative emotions (supportive and nonsupportive responses) and children's emotion regulation behaviors. One hundred and ninety-seven 4-year-olds and their mothers participated. Mothers reported on their reactions to children's negative emotions and children's regulatory behaviors. Observed distraction, an adaptive self-regulatory strategy, and vagal suppression were assessed during a laboratory task designed to elicit frustration. Results indicated that children's vagal suppression moderated the association between mothers' nonsupportive emotion socialization and children's emotion regulation behaviors such that nonsupportive reactions to negative emotions predicted lower observed distraction and lower reported emotion regulation behaviors when children displayed lower levels of vagal suppression. No interaction was found between supportive maternal emotion socialization and vagal suppression for children's emotion regulation behaviors. Results suggest physiological regulation may serve as a buffer against nonsupportive emotion socialization. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Bactericidal activity of LFchimera is stronger and less sensitive to ionic strength than its constituent lactoferricin and lactoferrampin peptides.

Science.gov (United States)

Bolscher, Jan G M; Adão, Regina; Nazmi, Kamran; van den Keybus, Petra A M; van 't Hof, Wim; Nieuw Amerongen, Arie V; Bastos, Margarida; Veerman, Enno C I

2009-01-01

The innate immunity factor lactoferrin harbours two antimicrobial moieties, lactoferricin and lactoferrampin, situated in close proximity in the N1 domain of the molecule. Most likely they cooperate in many of the beneficial activities of lactoferrin. To investigate whether chimerization of both peptides forms a functional unit we designed a chimerical structure containing lactoferricin amino acids 17-30 and lactoferrampin amino acids 265-284. The bactericidal activity of this LFchimera was found to be drastically stronger than that of the constituent peptides, as was demonstrated by the need for lower dose, shorter incubation time and less ionic strength dependency. Likewise, strongly enhanced interaction with negatively charged model membranes was found for the LFchimera relative to the constituent peptides. Thus, chimerization of the two antimicrobial peptides resembling their structural orientation in the native molecule strikingly improves their biological activity.

Supporting young people living with cancer to tell their stories in ways that make them stronger: The Beads of Life approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Portnoy, Sara; Girling, Isabella; Fredman, Glenda

2016-04-01

This article describes the 'Beads of Life' approach--a five-part methodology informed by narrative therapy to enable children and young people to make sense of their cancer journey in ways that make them stronger. Young people are invited to use beads as prompts to tell preferred stories of their identity to create a safe place to stand from which to story their cancer journey. The approach positions young people as experts in their lives. It aims to change their relationship with cancer to reduce its negative impact on life by lessening isolation. By enabling medical staff to get to know the young person apart from the cancer, this approach aims to create hope for the future and improve quality of care. © The Author(s) 2015.

A Negative Feedback Loop Between Autophagy and Immune Responses in Mycobacterium leprae Infection.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Yuelong; Zhang, Li; Lu, Jie; Shui, Tiejun; Chen, Jia; Yang, Jun; Yuan, Joanna; Liu, Yeqiang; Yang, Degang

2017-01-01

The obligate intracellular bacterium Mycobacterium leprae is the causative agent of leprosy and primarily infects macrophages, leading to irreversible nerve damage and deformities. So far, the underlying reasons allowing M. leprae to persist and propagate in macrophages, despite the presence of cellular immunity, are still a mystery. Here, we investigated the role of autophagy, a cellular process that degrades cytosolic materials and intracellular pathogens, in M. leprae infection. We found that live M. leprae infection of macrophages resulted in significantly elevated autophagy level. However, macrophages with high autophagy levels preferentially expressed lower levels of proinflammatory cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-12, and tumor necrosis factor-α, and preferentially primed anti-inflammatory T cells responses, characterized by high IL-10 and low interferon-γ, granzyme B, and perforin responses. These anti-inflammatory T cells could suppress further induction of autophagy, leading to improved survival of intracellular M. leprae in infected macrophages. Therefore, these data demonstrated that although autophagy had a role in eliminating intracellular pathogens, the induction of autophagy resulted in anti-inflammatory immune responses, which suppressed autophagy in a negative feedback loop and allowed the persistence of M. leprae.

When surging seas meet stronger rain: Nuclear techniques in flood management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quevenco, Rodolfo

2015-01-01

Unusually high rainfall in many parts of the world is a result of climate change, scientists say. Since warmer air can hold more water, the rationale goes, increased temperatures will increase the chances of stronger rainfall events. And when surging seas combine with stronger rain, the outcome is almost certain: floods. Floods are the most frequently occurring natural disasters, and south-east Asia is particularly vulnerable. Climate change and variability are expected to bring about increased typhoon activities, rising sea levels and off-season monsoon rains in southeast Asia and other regions. These can cause devastating floods in countries like Cambodia, Laos, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam. For the residents of these countries who have survived the ravages of major floods, the road to recovery can be long and arduous. As the flood water recedes, they have to contend with new forms of flood: floods of concern and worries as to how to rebuild their houses, their lives and their cities. Governments, too, face huge challenges in rebuilding roads, public buildings, infrastructure and natural resources destroyed or polluted by the flood.

Perseverative thought: a robust predictor of response to emotional challenge in generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruscio, Ayelet Meron; Seitchik, Allison E; Gentes, Emily L; Jones, Jason D; Hallion, Lauren S

2011-12-01

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) frequently co-occur, yet the reasons for their comorbidity remain poorly understood. In the present experiment, we tested whether a tendency to engage in negative, repetitive thinking constitutes a common risk process for the two disorders. A mixed sample of adults with comorbid GAD-MDD (n=50), GAD only (n=35), MDD only (n=34), or no lifetime psychopathology (n=35) was administered noncontingent failure and success feedback on consecutive performance tasks. Perseverative thought (PT), measured by negative thought intrusions during a baseline period of focused breathing, emerged as a powerful prospective predictor of responses to this experimental challenge. Participants reporting more frequent negative thought intrusions at baseline, irrespective of thought content or diagnostic status, exhibited a stronger negative response to failure that persisted even after subsequent success. Higher PT over the course of the experiment was associated with later behavioral avoidance, with negative affect and other traits closely linked to anxiety and depression, and with the presence and severity of GAD and MDD. These findings provide evidence for a broadly-defined PT trait that is shared by GAD and MDD and contributes to adverse outcomes in these disorders. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neural correlates of attitude change following positive and negative advertisements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junko Kato

2009-05-01

Full Text Available Understanding changes in attitudes towards others is critical to understanding human behaviour. Neuropolitical studies have found that the activation of emotion-related areas in the brain is linked to resilient political preferences, and neuroeconomic research has analysed the neural correlates of social preferences that favour or oppose consideration of intrinsic rewards. This study aims to identify the neural correlates in the prefrontal cortices of changes in political attitudes toward others that are linked to social cognition. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI experiments have presented videos from previous electoral campaigns and television commercials for major cola brands and then used the subjects’ self-rated affinity toward political candidates as behavioural indicators. After viewing negative campaign videos, subjects showing stronger fMRI activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex lowered their ratings of the candidate they originally supported more than did those with smaller fMRI signal changes in the same region. Subjects showing stronger activation in the medial prefrontal cortex tended to increase their ratings more than did those with less activation. The same regions were not activated by viewing negative advertisements for cola. Correlations between the self-rated values and the neural signal changes underscore the metric representation of observed decisions (i.e., whether to support or not in the brain. This indicates that neurometric analysis may contribute to the exploration of the neural correlates of daily social behaviour.

Prosocial attitudes and empathic behavior in emotional positive versus negative situations: brain response (ERPs) and source localization (LORETA) analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Balconi, Michela; Canavesio, Ylenia

2013-03-01

The present research firstly investigated the neural correlates (ERPs, event-related potentials) of attitudes to engage in prosocial-helping behaviors, and secondly, it analyzed the relation between these brain-based potentials and personal profile (high vs. low empathic profile). It was considered the subjects' behavior in response to specific emotional situations (positive vs. negative) in case it was required a possible prosocial intervention. Thirty-one subjects were invited to empathize with the emotional contexts (videotapes that reproduced two person's exchanges) and to decide whether to intervene or not to support these persons. BEES questionnaire for empathic behavior was submitted to the subjects after the experimental session. ERP acquisition and LORETA source analysis revealed a negative ongoing deflection (N200 effect) more prefrontally distributed (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) in response to prosocial intervention options mainly for negative and positive contexts. Moreover, a significant positive correlation was found between high-empathic profiles, intervention behaviors (higher frequency of interventions) and N200 amplitude (higher peak). These results highlight the role of emotions in prosocial behavior, since the N200 effect was considered a marker of the emotional significance of the interpersonal situation. Secondly, the empathic trait may explain the prosocial decisional processes: Higher empathic trait contributes to induce subject's intervention behavior which in turn appears to be directly related to the cortical responsiveness within the prefrontal areas.

Like or dislike? Affective preference modulates neural response to others' gains and losses.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yang Wang

Full Text Available Previous studies have demonstrated that the brain responds differentially to others' gains and losses relative to one's own, moderated by social context factors such as competition and interpersonal relationships. In the current study, we tested the hypothesis that the neural response to others' outcomes could be modulated by a short-term induced affective preference. We engaged 17 men and 18 women in a social-exchange game, in which two confederates played fairly or unfairly. Both men and women rated the fair player as likable and the unfair players as unlikable. Afterwards, ERPs were recorded while participants observed each confederates playing a gambling game individually. This study examines feedback related negativity (FRN, an ERP component sensitive to negative feedback. ANOVA showed a significant interaction in which females but not males displayed stronger FRNs when observing likable players' outcomes compared to unlikable ones'. However, males did not respond differently under either circumstance. These findings suggest that, at least in females, the neural response is influenced by a short-term induced affective preference.

Moderate effects of noninvasive brain stimulation of the frontal cortex for improving negative symptoms in schizophrenia: Meta-analysis of controlled trials.

Science.gov (United States)

Aleman, André; Enriquez-Geppert, Stefanie; Knegtering, Henderikus; Dlabac-de Lange, Jozarni J

2018-06-01

Negative symptoms in schizophrenia concern a clinically relevant reduction of goal-directed behavior that strongly and negatively impacts daily functioning. Existing treatments are of marginal effect and novel approaches are needed. Noninvasive neurostimulation by means of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) are novel approaches that may hold promise. To provide a quantitative integration of the published evidence regarding effects of rTMS and tDCS over the frontal cortex on negative symptoms, including an analysis of effects of sham stimulation. Meta-analysis was applied, using a random effects model, to calculate mean weighted effect sizes (Cohen's d). Heterogeneity was assessed by using Cochrans Q and I 2 tests. For rTMS treatment, the mean weighted effect size compared to sham stimulation was 0.64 (0.32-0.96; k = 22, total N = 827). Studies with younger participants showed stronger effects as compared to studies with older participants. For tDCS studies a mean weighted effect size of 0.50 (-0.07 to 1.07; k = 5, total N = 134) was found. For all frontal noninvasive neurostimulation studies together (i.e., TMS and tDCS studies combined) active stimulation was superior to sham, the mean weighted effect size was 0.61 (24 studies, 27 comparisons, 95% confidence interval 0.33-0.89; total N = 961). Sham rTMS (baseline - posttreatment comparison) showed a significant improvement of negative symptoms, d = 0.31 (0.09-0.52; k = 16, total N = 333). Whereas previous meta-analyses were underpowered, our meta-analysis had a power of 0.87 to detect a small effect. The available evidence indicates that noninvasive prefrontal neurostimulation can improve negative symptoms. This finding suggests a causal role for the lateral frontal cortex in self-initiated goal-directed behavior. The evidence is stronger for rTMS than for tDCS, although this may be due to the small number of

Ocular surface squamous neoplasia in HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients and response to 5-fluorouracil in Angola

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nutt RJ

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Robert J Nutt,1 John L Clements,2 William H Dean3 1Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK; 2Boa Vista Eye Clinic, Benguela, Angola; 3Bristol Eye Hospital, Bristol, UK Background: Ocular surface squamous neoplasia (OSSN is becoming increasingly prevalent and aggressive in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is a phenomenon linked with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV infection, although association rates in Angola are currently unknown. A topical treatment that is effective in HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals may be preferable to surgery in some contexts. We aimed to estimate the proportion of OSSN associated with HIV in Angola and to report on the success of topical 5-fluorouracil as a primary treatment in HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients.Methods: Photographs of OSSNs taken at presentation and following treatment with 5-fluorouracil in patients presenting to Boa Vista Eye Clinic, Angola, between October 2011 and July 2013 were grouped into HIV-positive and HIV-negative groups and analyzed to compare presenting features and treatment response. Eighty-one OSSNs were analyzed for clinical features and 24 met the inclusion criteria for analysis of treatment response.Results: Eighty-two patients presented with OSSN between October 2011 and July 2013. Twenty-one (26% were HIV-positive and typically had OSSNs that exhibited more pathological features than those in HIV-negative patients. Twenty-four (29% patients met the inclusion criteria for analysis of treatment response; of these, 26 (91% OSSNs in both groups displayed at least partial resolution after one treatment course. In the HIV-positive group, five of eight patients displayed complete resolution, two showed partial resolution, and one failed. In the HIV-negative group, five of 16 showed complete resolution, ten of 16 had partial resolution, and one failed.Conclusion: Individuals presenting with OSSN in Angola are more likely to have HIV infection compared

Age Differences in Affective and Cardiovascular Responses to a Negative Social Interaction: The Role of Goals, Appraisals, and Emotion Regulation

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Luong, Gloria; Charles, Susan T.

2014-01-01

Older adults often report less affective reactivity to interpersonal tensions than younger individuals, but few studies have directly investigated mechanisms explaining this effect. The current study examined whether older adults’ differential endorsement of goals, appraisals, and emotion regulation strategies (i.e., conflict avoidance/de-escalation, self-distraction) during a controlled negative social interaction may explain age differences in affective and cardiovascular responses to the conflict discussion. Participants (N=159; 80 younger adults, 79 older adults) discussed hypothetical dilemmas with disagreeable confederates. Throughout the laboratory session, participants’ subjective emotional experience, blood pressure, and pulse rate were assessed. Older adults generally exhibited less reactivity (negative affect reactivity, diastolic blood pressure reactivity, and pulse rate reactivity) to the task, and more pronounced positive and negative affect recovery following the task, than did younger adults. Older adults appraised the task as more enjoyable and the confederate as more likeable, and more strongly endorsed goals to perform well on the task, which mediated age differences in negative affect reactivity, pulse rate reactivity, and positive affect recovery (i.e., increases in post-task positive affect), respectively. In addition, younger adults showed increased negative affect reactivity with greater use of self-distraction, whereas older adults did not. Together, findings suggest that older adults respond less negatively to unpleasant social interactions than younger adults, and these responses are explained in part by older adults’ pursuit of different motivational goals, less threatening appraisals of the social interaction, and more effective use of self-distraction, compared to younger adults. PMID:24773101

The role of the SST-thermocline relationship in Indian Ocean Dipole skewness and its response to global warming

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Ng, Benjamin; Cai, Wenju; Walsh, Kevin

2014-01-01

A positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) tends to have stronger cold sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) over the eastern Indian Ocean with greater impacts than warm SSTAs that occur during its negative phase. Two feedbacks have been suggested as the cause of positive IOD skewness, a positive Bjerknes feedback and a negative SST-cloud-radiation (SCR) feedback, but their relative importance is debated. Using inter-model statistics, we show that the most important process for IOD skewness is an asymmetry in the thermocline feedback, whereby SSTAs respond to thermocline depth anomalies more strongly during the positive phase than negative phase. This asymmetric thermocline feedback drives IOD skewness despite positive IODs receiving greater damping from the SCR feedback. In response to global warming, although the thermocline feedback strengthens, its asymmetry between positive and negative IODs weakens. This behaviour change explains the reduction in IOD skewness that many models display under global warming. PMID:25112717

Negative emotionality and externalizing problems in toddlerhood: overreactive parenting as a moderator of genetic influences.

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Lipscomb, Shannon T; Leve, Leslie D; Shaw, Daniel S; Neiderhiser, Jenae M; Scaramella, Laura V; Ge, Xiaojia; Conger, Rand D; Reid, John B; Reiss, David

2012-02-01

The current study examines the interplay between parental overreactivity and children's genetic backgrounds as inferred from birth parent characteristics on the development of negative emotionality during infancy, and in turn, to individual differences in externalizing problems in toddlerhood. The sample included 361 families linked through adoption (birth parents and adoptive families). Data were collected when the children were 9, 18, and 27 months old. Results indicated links between individual levels and changes in negative emotionality during infancy and toddlerhood to externalizing problems early in the third year of life. Findings also revealed an interaction between birth mother negative affect and adoptive mother overreactive parenting on children's negative emotionality. This Genotype × Environment interaction predicted externalizing problems indirectly through its association with negative emotionality and revealed stronger effects of genetic risk for children with less overreactive parenting from their mothers. Limitations of this study and directions for future research are discussed.

Self-Verification Strivings in Children Holding Negative Self-Views: The Mitigating Effects of a Preceding Success Experience.

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Reijntjes, Albert; Thomaes, Sander; Kamphuis, Jan Henk; de Castro, Bram Orobio; Telch, Michael J

2010-12-01

Research among adults has consistently shown that people holding negative self-views prefer negative over positive feedback. The present study tested the hypothesis that this preference is less robust among pre-adolescents, such that it will be mitigated by a preceding positive event. Pre-adolescents (n = 75) holding positive or negative global self-esteem were randomized to a favorable or unfavorable peer evaluation outcome. Next, preferences for positive versus negative feedback were assessed using an unobtrusive behavioral viewing time measure. As expected, results showed that after being faced with the success outcome children holding negative self-views were as likely as their peers holding positive self-views to display a significant preference for positive feedback. In contrast, children holding negative self-views displayed a stronger preference for negative feedback after being faced with the unfavorable outcome that matched their pre-existing self-views.

Identifying clinically meaningful symptom response cut-off values on the SANS in predominant negative symptoms.

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Levine, Stephen Z; Leucht, Stefan

2013-04-01

The treatment and measurement of negative symptoms are currently at issue in schizophrenia, but the clinical meaning of symptom severity and change is unclear. To offer a clinically meaningful interpretation of severity and change scores on the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS). Patients were intention-to-treat participants (n=383) in two double-blind randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials that compared amisulpride with placebo for the treatment of predominant negative symptoms. Equipercentile linking was used to examine extrapolation from (a) CGI-S to SANS severity ratings, and (b) CGI-I to SANS percentage change (n=383). Linking was conducted at baseline, 8-14 days, 28-30 days, and 56-60 days of the trials. Across visits, CGI-S ratings of 'not ill' linked to SANS scores of 0-13, and ranged to 'extreme' ratings that linked to SANS scores of 102-105. The relationship between the CGI-S and the SANS severity scores assumed a linear trend (1=0-13, 2=15-56, 3=37-61, 4=49-66, 5=63-75, 6=79-89, 7=102-105). Similarly the relationship between CGI-I ratings and SANS percentage change followed a linear trend. For instance, CGI-I ratings of 'very much improved' were linked to SANS percent changes of -90 to -67, 'much improved' to -50 to -42, and 'minimally improved' to -21 to -13. The current results uniquely contribute to the debate surrounding negative symptoms by providing clinical meaning to SANS severity and change scores and so offer direction regarding clinically meaningful response cut-off scores to guide treatment targets of predominant negative symptoms. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dispositional fear, negative affectivity, and neuroimaging response to visually suppressed emotional faces.

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Vizueta, Nathalie; Patrick, Christopher J; Jiang, Yi; Thomas, Kathleen M; He, Sheng

2012-01-02

"Invisible" stimulus paradigms provide a method for investigating basic affective processing in clinical and non-clinical populations. Neuroimaging studies utilizing continuous flash suppression (CFS) have shown increased amygdala response to invisible fearful versus neutral faces. The current study used CFS in conjunction with functional MRI to test for differences in brain reactivity to visible and invisible emotional faces in relation to two distinct trait dimensions relevant to psychopathology: negative affectivity (NA) and fearfulness. Subjects consisted of college students (N=31) assessed for fear/fearlessness along with dispositional NA. The main brain regions of interest included the fusiform face area (FFA), superior temporal sulcus (STS), and amygdala. Higher NA, but not trait fear, was associated with enhanced response to fearful versus neutral faces in STS and right amygdala (but not FFA), within the invisible condition specifically. The finding that NA rather than fearfulness predicted degree of amygdala reactivity to suppressed faces implicates the input subdivision of the amygdala in the observed effects. Given the central role of NA in anxiety and mood disorders, the current data also support use of the CFS methodology for investigating the neurobiology of these disorders. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The ethylene response factor AtERF4 negatively regulates the iron deficiency response in Arabidopsis thaliana.

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Wei Liu

Full Text Available Iron (Fe deficiency is one of many conditions that can seriously damage crops. Low levels of photosynthesis can lead to the degradation of chlorophyll content and impaired respiration in affected plants, which together cause poor growth and reduce quality. Although ethylene plays an important role in responses to Fe deficiency, a limited number of studies have been carried out on ethylene response factor (ERFs as components of plant regulation mechanisms. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the role of AtERF4 in plant responses to Fe deficiency. Results collected when Arabidopsis thaliana was grown under Fe deficient conditions as well as in the presence of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC revealed that leaf chlorosis did not occur over short timescales and that chloroplast structural integrity was retained. At the same time, expression of the chlorophyll degradation-related genes AtPAO and AtCLH1 was inhibited and net H+ root flux was amplified. Our results show that chlorophyll content was enhanced in the mutant erf4, while expression of the chlorophyll degradation gene AtCLH1 was reduced. Ferric reductase activity in roots was also significantly higher in the mutant than in wild type plants, while erf4 caused high levels of expression of the genes AtIRT1 and AtHA2 under Fe deficient conditions. We also utilized yeast one-hybrid technology in this study to determine that AtERF4 binds directly to the AtCLH1 and AtITR1 promoter. Observations show that transient over-expression of AtERF4 resulted in rapid chlorophyll degradation in the leaves of Nicotiana tabacum and the up-regulation of gene AtCLH1 expression. In summary, AtERF4 plays an important role as a negative regulator of Fe deficiency responses, we hypothesize that AtERF4 may exert a balancing effect on plants subject to nutrition stress.

5-HTTLPR polymorphism modulates neural mechanisms of negative self-reflection.

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Ma, Yina; Li, Bingfeng; Wang, Chenbo; Shi, Zhenhao; Sun, Yun; Sheng, Feng; Zhang, Yifan; Zhang, Wenxia; Rao, Yi; Han, Shihui

2014-09-01

Cognitive distortion in depression is characterized by enhanced negative thoughts about both environment and oneself. Carriers of a risk allele for depression, that is, the short (s) allele of the serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR), exhibit amygdala hyperresponsiveness to negative environmental stimuli relative to homozygous long variant (l/l). However, the neural correlates of negative self-schema in s allele carriers remain unknown. Using functional MRI, we scanned individuals with s/s or l/l genotype of the 5-HTTLPR during reflection on their own personality traits or a friend's personality traits. We found that relative to l/l carriers, s/s carriers showed stronger distressed feelings and greater activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate (dACC)/dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and the right anterior insula (AI) during negative self-reflection. The 5-HTTLPR effect on the distressed feelings was mediated by the AI/inferior frontal (IF) activity during negative self-reflection. The dACC/dmPFC activity explained 20% of the variation in harm-avoidance tendency in s/s but not l/l carriers. The genotype effects on distress and brain activity were not observed during reflection on a friend's negative traits. Our findings reveal that 5-HTTLPR polymorphism modulates distressed feelings and brain activities associated with negative self-schema and suggest a potential neurogenetic susceptibility mechanism for depression. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Post-1980 shifts in the sensitivity of boreal tree growth to North Atlantic Ocean dynamics and seasonal climate. Tree growth responses to North Atlantic Ocean dynamics

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Ols, Clémentine; Trouet, Valerie; Girardin, Martin P.; Hofgaard, Annika; Bergeron, Yves; Drobyshev, Igor

2018-06-01

The mid-20th century changes in North Atlantic Ocean dynamics, e.g. slow-down of the Atlantic meridional overturning thermohaline circulation (AMOC), have been considered as early signs of tipping points in the Earth climate system. We hypothesized that these changes have significantly altered boreal forest growth dynamics in northeastern North America (NA) and northern Europe (NE), two areas geographically adjacent to the North Atlantic Ocean. To test our hypothesis, we investigated tree growth responses to seasonal large-scale oceanic and atmospheric indices (the AMOC, North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), and Arctic Oscillation (AO)) and climate (temperature and precipitation) from 1950 onwards, both at the regional and local levels. We developed a network of 6876 black spruce (NA) and 14437 Norway spruce (NE) tree-ring width series, extracted from forest inventory databases. Analyses revealed post-1980 shifts from insignificant to significant tree growth responses to summer oceanic and atmospheric dynamics both in NA (negative responses to NAO and AO indices) and NE (positive response to NAO and AMOC indices). The strength and sign of these responses varied, however, through space with stronger responses in western and central boreal Quebec and in central and northern boreal Sweden, and across scales with stronger responses at the regional level than at the local level. Emerging post-1980 associations with North Atlantic Ocean dynamics synchronized with stronger tree growth responses to local seasonal climate, particularly to winter temperatures. Our results suggest that ongoing and future anomalies in oceanic and atmospheric dynamics may impact forest growth and carbon sequestration to a greater extent than previously thought. Cross-scale differences in responses to North Atlantic Ocean dynamics highlight complex interplays in the effects of local climate and ocean-atmosphere dynamics on tree growth processes and advocate for the use of different spatial scales in

CDC'S Testing Makes Us Stronger (TMUS) Campaign: Was Campaign Exposure Associated With HIV Testing Behavior Among Black Gay and Bisexual Men?

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Habarta, Nancy; Boudewyns, Vanessa; Badal, Hannah; Johnston, Jennie; Uhrig, Jennifer; Green, Donata; Ruddle, Paul; Rosenthal, Jacqueline; Stryker, Jo Ellen

2017-06-01

This study assessed exposure among Black gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (BMSM) to a communication campaign, Testing Makes Us Stronger (TMUS), and its association with HIV testing to determine campaign effectiveness. Data from an online survey (N = 3,105) were analyzed using propensity score weight-adjusted logistic regression to examine the effect of exposure on HIV testing. Among BMSM aged 18-44 (n = 702), 43.2% reported TMUS exposure. The majority of those exposed were aged 25-34 (54%), HIV-negative (65%), and had some college education (87%). TMUS exposure was associated with reported increased HIV testing behaviors at 6- and 12-month frequencies. Communication campaigns with clear implementation strategies, focused objectives, and online and event presence can be associated with longer-term outcomes such as HIV testing.

Recommendations to improve the positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) based on item response theory.

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Levine, Stephen Z; Rabinowitz, Jonathan; Rizopoulos, Dimitris

2011-08-15

The adequacy of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) items in measuring symptom severity in schizophrenia was examined using Item Response Theory (IRT). Baseline PANSS assessments were analyzed from two multi-center clinical trials of antipsychotic medication in chronic schizophrenia (n=1872). Generally, the results showed that the PANSS (a) item ratings discriminated symptom severity best for the negative symptoms; (b) has an excess of "Severe" and "Extremely severe" rating options; and (c) assessments are more reliable at medium than very low or high levels of symptom severity. Analysis also showed that the detection of statistically and non-statistically significant differences in treatment were highly similar for the original and IRT-modified PANSS. In clinical trials of chronic schizophrenia, the PANSS appears to require the following modifications: fewer rating options, adjustment of 'Lack of judgment and insight', and improved severe symptom assessment. 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abusive supervision and workplace deviance and the moderating effects of negative reciprocity beliefs.

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Mitchell, Marie S; Ambrose, Maureen L

2007-07-01

In this study, the authors examine the relationship between abusive supervision and employee workplace deviance. The authors conceptualize abusive supervision as a type of aggression. They use work on retaliation and direct and displaced aggression as a foundation for examining employees' reactions to abusive supervision. The authors predict abusive supervision will be related to supervisor-directed deviance, organizational deviance, and interpersonal deviance. Additionally, the authors examine the moderating effects of negative reciprocity beliefs. They hypothesized that the relationship between abusive supervision and supervisor-directed deviance would be stronger when individuals hold higher negative reciprocity beliefs. The results support this hypothesis. The implications of the results for understanding destructive behaviors in the workplace are examined.

Mindful attention predicts greater recovery from negative emotions, but not reduced reactivity.

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Cho, Sinhae; Lee, Hyejeen; Oh, Kyung Ja; Soto, José A

2017-09-01

This study investigated the role of dispositional mindful attention in immediate reactivity to, and subsequent recovery from, laboratory-induced negative emotion. One hundred and fourteen undergraduates viewed blocks of negative pictures followed by neutral pictures. Participants' emotional responses to negative pictures and subsequent neutral pictures were assessed via self-reported ratings. Participants' emotional response to negative pictures was used to index level of emotional reactivity to unpleasant stimuli; emotional response to neutral pictures presented immediately after the negative pictures was used to index level of emotional recovery from pre-induced negative emotion (residual negativity). Results indicated that mindful attention was not associated with the emotional response to negative pictures, but it was associated with reduced negative emotion in response to the neutral pictures presented immediately after the negative pictures, suggesting better recovery as opposed to reduced reactivity. This effect was especially pronounced in later experimental blocks when the accumulation of negative stimuli produced greater negative emotion from which participants had to recover. The current study extends previous findings on the relationship between dispositional mindfulness and reduced negative emotion by demonstrating that mindful attention may facilitate better recovery from negative emotion, possibly through more effective disengagement from previous stimuli.

Test-retest reliability of the multifocal photopic negative response.

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Van Alstine, Anthony W; Viswanathan, Suresh

2017-02-01

To assess the test-retest reliability of the multifocal photopic negative response (mfPhNR) of normal human subjects. Multifocal electroretinograms were recorded from one eye of 61 healthy adult subjects on two separate days using a Visual Evoked Response Imaging System software version 4.3 (EDI, San Mateo, California). The visual stimulus delivered on a 75-Hz monitor consisted of seven equal-sized hexagons each subtending 12° of visual angle. The m-step exponent was 9, and the m-sequence was slowed to include at least 30 blank frames after each flash. Only the first slice of the first-order kernel was analyzed. The mfPhNR amplitude was measured at a fixed time in the trough from baseline (BT) as well as at the same fixed time in the trough from the preceding b-wave peak (PT). Additionally, we also analyzed BT normalized either to PT (BT/PT) or to the b-wave amplitude (BT/b-wave). The relative reliability of test-retest differences for each test location was estimated by the Wilcoxon matched-pair signed-rank test and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Absolute test-retest reliability was estimated by Bland-Altman analysis. The test-retest amplitude differences for neither of the two measurement techniques were statistically significant as determined by Wilcoxon matched-pair signed-rank test. PT measurements showed greater ICC values than BT amplitude measurements for all test locations. For each measurement technique, the ICC value of the macular response was greater than that of the surrounding locations. The mean test-retest difference was close to zero for both techniques at each of the test locations, and while the coefficient of reliability (COR-1.96 times the standard deviation of the test-retest difference) was comparable for the two techniques at each test location when expressed in nanovolts, the %COR (COR normalized to the mean test and retest amplitudes) was superior for PT than BT measurements. The ICC and COR were comparable for the BT/PT and

Canine antibody response to Phlebotomus perniciosus bites negatively correlates with the risk of Leishmania infantum transmission.

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Michaela Vlkova

2011-10-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Phlebotomine sand flies are blood-sucking insects that can transmit Leishmania parasites. Hosts bitten by sand flies develop an immune response against sand fly salivary antigens. Specific anti-saliva IgG indicate the exposure to the vector and may also help to estimate the risk of Leishmania spp. transmission. In this study, we examined the canine antibody response against the saliva of Phlebotomus perniciosus, the main vector of Leishmania infantum in the Mediterranean Basin, and characterized salivary antigens of this sand fly species. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Sera of dogs bitten by P. perniciosus under experimental conditions and dogs naturally exposed to sand flies in a L. infantum focus were tested by ELISA for the presence of anti-P. perniciosus antibodies. Antibody levels positively correlated with the number of blood-fed P. perniciosus females. In naturally exposed dogs the increase of specific IgG, IgG1 and IgG2 was observed during sand fly season. Importantly, Leishmania-positive dogs revealed significantly lower anti-P. perniciosus IgG2 compared to Leishmania-negative ones. Major P. perniciosus antigens were identified by western blot and mass spectrometry as yellow proteins, apyrases and antigen 5-related proteins. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that monitoring canine antibody response to sand fly saliva in endemic foci could estimate the risk of L. infantum transmission. It may also help to control canine leishmaniasis by evaluating the effectiveness of anti-vector campaigns. Data from the field study where dogs from the Italian focus of L. infantum were naturally exposed to P. perniciosus bites indicates that the levels of anti-P. perniciosus saliva IgG2 negatively correlate with the risk of Leishmania transmission. Thus, specific IgG2 response is suggested as a risk marker of L. infantum transmission for dogs.

HPV-16 L1 genes with inactivated negative RNA elements induce potent immune responses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rollman, Erik; Arnheim, Lisen; Collier, Brian; Oeberg, Daniel; Hall, Haakan; Klingstroem, Jonas; Dillner, Joakim; Pastrana, Diana V.; Buck, Chris B.; Hinkula, Jorma; Wahren, Britta; Schwartz, Stefan

2004-01-01

Introduction of point mutations in the 5' end of the human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) L1 gene specifically inactivates negative regulatory RNA processing elements. DNA vaccination of C57Bl/6 mice with the mutated L1 gene resulted in improved immunogenicity for both neutralizing antibodies as well as for broad cellular immune responses. Previous reports on the activation of L1 by codon optimization may be explained by inactivation of the regulatory RNA elements. The modified HPV-16 L1 DNA that induced anti-HPV-16 immunity may be seen as a complementary approach to protein subunit immunization against papillomavirus

Simulating the Earth System Response to Negative Emissions

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Jackson, R. B.; Milne, J.; Littleton, E. W.; Jones, C.; Canadell, J.; Peters, G. P.; van Vuuren, D.; Davis, S. J.; Jonas, M.; Smith, P.; Ciais, P.; Rogelj, J.; Torvanger, A.; Shrestha, G.

2016-12-01

The natural carbon sinks of the land and oceans absorb approximately half the anthropogenic CO2 emitted every year. The CO2 that is not absorbed accumulates in the Earth's atmosphere and traps the suns rays causing an increase in the global mean temperature. Removing this left over CO2 using negative emissions technologies (NETs) has been proposed as a strategy to lessen the accumulating CO2 and avoid dangerous climate change. Using CMIP5 Earth system model simulations this study assessed the impact on the global carbon cycle, and how the Earth system might respond, to negative emissions strategies applied to low emissions scenarios, over different times horizons from the year 2000 to 2300. The modeling results suggest that using NETs to remove atmospheric CO2 over five 50-year time horizons has varying effects at different points in time. The effects of anthropogenic and natural sources and sinks, can result in positive or negative changes in atmospheric CO2 concentration. Results show that historic emissions and the current state of the Earth System have impacts on the behavior of atmospheric CO2, as do instantaneous anthropogenic emissions. Indeed, varying background scenarios seemed to have a greater effect on atmospheric CO2 than the actual amount and timing of NETs. These results show how NETs interact with the physical climate-carbon cycle system and highlight the need for more research on earth-system dynamics as they relate to carbon sinks and sources and anthropogenic perturbations.

The neuroendocrine response to stress under the effect of drugs: Negative synergy between amphetamine and stressors.

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Gómez-Román, Almudena; Ortega-Sánchez, Juan A; Rotllant, David; Gagliano, Humberto; Belda, Xavier; Delgado-Morales, Raúl; Marín-Blasco, Ignacio; Nadal, Roser; Armario, Antonio

2016-01-01

There have been numerous studies into the interaction between stress and addictive drugs, yet few have specifically addressed how the organism responds to stress when under the influence of psychostimulants. Thus, we studied the effects of different acute stressors (immobilization, interleukin-1β and forced swimming) in young adult male rats simultaneously exposed to amphetamine (AMPH, 4 mg/kg SC), evaluating classic biological markers. AMPH administration itself augmented the plasma hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) hormones, adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) and corticosterone, without affecting plasma glucose levels. By contrast, this drug dampened the peripheral HPA axis, as well as the response of glucose to the three stressors. We also found that AMPH administration completely blocked the forced swim-induced expression of the corticotropin-releasing hormone (hnCRH) and it partially reduced c-fos expression in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN). Indeed, this negative synergy in the forced swim test could even be observed with a lower dose of AMPH (1mg/kg, SC), a dose that is usually received in self-administration experiments. In conclusion, when rats that receive AMPH are subjected to stress, a negative synergy occurs that dampens the prototypic peripheral physiological response to stress and activation of the PVN. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dependency, self-criticism and negative affective responses following imaginary rejection and failure threats: meaning-making processes as moderators or mediators.

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Besser, Avi; Priel, Beatriz

2011-01-01

This study evaluated the intervening role of meaning-making processes in emotional responses to negative life events based on Blatt's (1974, 2004) formulations concerning the role of personality predispositions in depression. In a pre/post within-subject study design, a community sample of 233 participants reacted to imaginary scenarios of interpersonal rejection and achievement failure. Meaning-making processes relating to threats to self-definition and interpersonal relatedness were examined following the exposure to the scenarios. The results indicated that the personality predisposition of Dependency, but not Self-Criticism predicted higher levels of negative affect following the interpersonal rejection event, independent of baseline levels of negative affect. This effect was mediated by higher levels of negative meaning-making processes related to the effect of the interpersonal rejection scenario on Dependent individuals' senses of interpersonal relatedness and self-worth. In addition, both Self-Criticism and Dependency predicted higher levels of negative affect following the achievement failure event, independent of baseline levels of negative affect. Finally, the effect of Self-Criticism was mediated by higher levels of negative meaning-making processes related to the effect of the achievement failure scenario on self-critical individuals' senses of self-definition.

MRI evaluation of residual breast cancer after neoadjuvant chemotherapy: influence of patient, tumor and chemotherapy characteristics on the correlation with pathological response.

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Diguisto, Caroline; Ouldamer, Lobna; Arbion, Flavie; Vildé, Anne; Body, Gilles

2015-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between the residual tumor measured on magnetic resonance imaging and pathological results and to assess whether this correlation varies according to patient, tumor or chemotherapy characteristics. The study population included women treated for breast cancer with indication of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in our tertiary breast cancer Unit between January 2008 and December 2011. Factors related to patients, tumor and chemotherapy were studied. Pearson's correlation coefficient between the size of the tumor on MRI and pathological response was calculated for the entire population. It was also calculated according to patient, tumor and chemotherapy characteristics. During the study period, 107 consecutive women were included. The size of residual tumor on the MRI significantly correlated with the size on pathological result with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.52 (pcorrelation was stronger for women aged 50 years and older (r=0.64, pcorrelation was stronger for those with triple-negative tumors (r=0.69, p=0.002) but weaker for those with tumors with a ductal carcinoma in situ component (r =0.18, p=0.42). The size of breast cancer obtained by MRI is significantly correlated to the pathological size of the tumor. This correlation was stronger among women aged 50 years and more, among post-menopausal women, and among women who had triple-negative tumors. Copyright© 2015 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.

The effects of valence-based and discrete emotional states on aesthetic response.

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Cheng, Yin-Hui

2013-01-01

There is increasing recognition that consumer aesthetics--the responses of consumers to the aesthetic or appearance aspects of products--has become an important area of marketing in recent years. Consumer aesthetic responses to a product are a source of pleasure for the consumer. Previous research into the aesthetic responses to products has often emphasized exterior factors and visual design, but studies have seldom considered the psychological aesthetic experience of consumers, and in particular their emotional state. This study attempts to bridge this gap by examining the link between consumers' emotions and their aesthetic response to a product. Thus, the major goal of this study was to determine how valence-based and discrete emotional states influence choice. In Studies 1 and 2, positive and negative emotions were manipulated to implement two different induction techniques and explore the effect of emotions on participants' choices in two separate experiments. The results of both experiments confirmed the predictions, indicating that aesthetic responses and purchase intention are functions of emotional valence, such that both are stronger for people in a positive emotional state than for those in a negative emotional state. Study 2 also used a neutral affective state to establish the robustness of this observed effect of incidental affect. The results of Study 3 demonstrate that aesthetic response and purchase intention are not only a function of affect valence, but also are affected by the certainty appraisal associated with specific affective states. This research, therefore, contributes to the literature by offering empirical evidence that incidental affect is a determinant of aesthetic response.

BUILDING STRONGER STATE ENERGY PARTNERSHIPS WITH THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kate Burke

2002-11-01

This technical progress report includes an update of the progress during the second year of cooperative agreement DE-FC26-00NT40802, Building Stronger State Energy Partnerships with the U.S. Department of Energy. The report also describes the barriers in conduct of the effort, and our assessment of future progress and activities.

Elongated Hypocotyl 5-Homolog (HYH Negatively Regulates Expression of the Ambient Temperature-Responsive MicroRNA Gene MIR169

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Phanu T. Serivichyaswat

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Arabidopsis microRNA169 (miR169 is an ambient temperature-responsive microRNA that plays an important role in stress responses and the floral transition. However, the transcription factors that regulate the expression of MIR169 have remained unknown. In this study, we show that Elongated Hypocotyl 5-Homolog (HYH directly binds to the promoter of MIR169a and negatively regulates its expression. Absolute quantification identified MIR169a as the major locus producing miR169. GUS reporter assays revealed that the deletion of a 498-bp fragment (–1,505 to –1,007, relative to the major transcriptional start site of MIR169a abolished its ambient temperature-responsive expression. DNA-affinity chromatography followed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis identified transcription factor HYH as a trans-acting factor that binds to the 498-bp promoter fragment of pri-miR169a. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays and chromatin immunoprecipitation–quantitative PCR demonstrated that the HYH.2 protein, a predominant isoform of HYH, directly associated with a G-box-like motif in the 498-bp fragment of pri-miR169a. Higher enrichment of HYH.2 protein on the promoter region of MIR169a was seen at 23°C, consistent with the presence of more HYH.2 protein in the cell at the temperature. Transcript levels of pri-miR169a increased in hyh mutants and decreased in transgenic plants overexpressing HYH. Consistent with the negative regulation of MIR169a by HYH, the diurnal levels of HYH mRNA and pri-miR169a showed opposite patterns. Taken together, our results suggest that HYH is a transcription factor that binds to a G-box-like motif in the MIR169a promoter and negatively regulates ambient temperature-responsive expression of MIR169a at higher temperatures in Arabidopsis.

Preliminary Validation of a New Measure of Negative Response Bias: The Temporal Memory Sequence Test.

Science.gov (United States)

Hegedish, Omer; Kivilis, Naama; Hoofien, Dan

2015-01-01

The Temporal Memory Sequence Test (TMST) is a new measure of negative response bias (NRB) that was developed to enrich the forced-choice paradigm. The TMST does not resemble the common structure of forced-choice tests and is presented as a temporal recall memory test. The validation sample consisted of 81 participants: 21 healthy control participants, 20 coached simulators, and 40 patients with acquired brain injury (ABI). The TMST had high reliability and significantly high positive correlations with the Test of Memory Malingering and Word Memory Test effort scales. Moreover, the TMST effort scales exhibited high negative correlations with the Glasgow Coma Scale, thus validating the previously reported association between probable malingering and mild traumatic brain injury. A suggested cutoff score yielded acceptable classification rates in the ABI group as well as in the simulator and control groups. The TMST appears to be a promising measure of NRB detection, with respectable rates of reliability and construct and criterion validity.

Sustained negative BOLD response in human fMRI finger tapping task.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yadong; Shen, Hui; Zhou, Zongtan; Hu, Dewen

2011-01-01

In this work, we investigated the sustained negative blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response (sNBR) using functional magnetic resonance imaging during a finger tapping task. We observed that the sNBR for this task was more extensive than has previously been reported. The cortical regions involved in sNBR are divided into the following three groups: frontal, somatosensory and occipital. By investigating the spatial structure, area, amplitude, and dynamics of the sNBR in comparison with those of its positive BOLD response (PBR) counterpart, we made the following observations. First, among the three groups, the somatosensory group contained the greatest number of activated voxels and the fewest deactivated voxels. In addition, the amplitude of the sNBR in this group was the smallest among the three groups. Second, the onset and peak time of the sNBR are both larger than those of the PBR, whereas the falling edge time of the sNBR is less than that of the PBR. Third, the long distance between most sNBR foci and their corresponding PBR foci makes it unlikely that they share the same blood supply artery. Fourth, the couplings between the sNBR and its PBR counterpart are distinct among different regions and thus should be investigated separately. These findings imply that the origin of most sNBR foci in the finger-tapping task is much more likely to be neuronal activity suppression rather than "blood steal."

Sustained negative BOLD response in human fMRI finger tapping task.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yadong Liu

Full Text Available In this work, we investigated the sustained negative blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD response (sNBR using functional magnetic resonance imaging during a finger tapping task. We observed that the sNBR for this task was more extensive than has previously been reported. The cortical regions involved in sNBR are divided into the following three groups: frontal, somatosensory and occipital. By investigating the spatial structure, area, amplitude, and dynamics of the sNBR in comparison with those of its positive BOLD response (PBR counterpart, we made the following observations. First, among the three groups, the somatosensory group contained the greatest number of activated voxels and the fewest deactivated voxels. In addition, the amplitude of the sNBR in this group was the smallest among the three groups. Second, the onset and peak time of the sNBR are both larger than those of the PBR, whereas the falling edge time of the sNBR is less than that of the PBR. Third, the long distance between most sNBR foci and their corresponding PBR foci makes it unlikely that they share the same blood supply artery. Fourth, the couplings between the sNBR and its PBR counterpart are distinct among different regions and thus should be investigated separately. These findings imply that the origin of most sNBR foci in the finger-tapping task is much more likely to be neuronal activity suppression rather than "blood steal."

Enhanced Brain Responses to Pain-Related Words in Chronic Back Pain Patients and Their Modulation by Current Pain.

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Ritter, Alexander; Franz, Marcel; Puta, Christian; Dietrich, Caroline; Miltner, Wolfgang H R; Weiss, Thomas

2016-08-10

Previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies in healthy controls (HC) and pain-free migraine patients found activations to pain-related words in brain regions known to be activated while subjects experience pain. The aim of the present study was to identify neural activations induced by pain-related words in a sample of chronic back pain (CBP) patients experiencing current chronic pain compared to HC. In particular, we were interested in how current pain influences brain activations induced by pain-related adjectives. Subjects viewed pain-related, negative, positive, and neutral words; subjects were asked to generate mental images related to these words during fMRI scanning. Brain activation was compared between CBP patients and HC in response to the different word categories and examined in relation to current pain in CBP patients. Pain-related words vs. neutral words activated a network of brain regions including cingulate cortex and insula in subjects and patients. There was stronger activation in medial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and anterior midcingulate cortex in CPB patients than in HC. The magnitude of activation for pain-related vs. negative words showed a negative linear relationship to CBP patients' current pain. Our findings confirm earlier observations showing that pain-related words activate brain networks similar to noxious stimulation. Importantly, CBP patients show even stronger activation of these structures while merely processing pain-related words. Current pain directly influences on this activation.

A nomogram for predicting pathological complete response in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative breast cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jin, Xi; Jiang, Yi-Zhou; Chen, Sheng; Yu, Ke-Da; Ma, Ding; Sun, Wei; Shao, Zhi-Min; Di, Gen-Hong

2016-01-01

The response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy has been proven to predict long-term clinical benefits for patients. Our research is to construct a nomogram to predict pathological complete response of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative breast cancer patients. We enrolled 815 patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy from 2003 to 2015 and divided them into a training set and a validation set. Univariate logistic regression was performed to screen for predictors and construct the nomogram; multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify independent predictors. After performing the univariate logistic regression analysis in the training set, tumor size, hormone receptor status, regimens of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy were the final predictors for the construction of the nomogram. The multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that T4 status, hormone receptor status and receiving regimen of paclitaxel and carboplatin were independent predictors of pathological complete response. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the training set and the validation set was 0.779 and 0.701, respectively. We constructed and validated a nomogram to predict pathological complete response in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative breast cancer patients. We also identified tumor size, hormone receptor status and paclitaxel and carboplatin regimen as independent predictors of pathological complete response. The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12885-016-2652-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

When interoception helps to overcome negative feelings caused by social exclusion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga ePollatos

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Social exclusion affects mental and physical health. The ability to regulate emotional responses to social exclusion is therefore essential for our well-being. As individual differences in detecting bodily signals (interoceptive sensitivity, IS have been associated with the ability of emotion regulation, we aimed at exploring whether IS fosters coping with social exclusion and flexibility in emotion regulation.The first study investigated subjective feelings and behavioral affiliation tendencies in response to ostracism using a cyberball paradigm. 69 participants were assessed who differed with respect to IS. The second study examined habitual emotion regulation processes focusing on suppression and reappraisal as well as IS in 116 participants. Main results were that the effect of ostracism on distress and behavioral affiliation tendencies were qualified by IS – being ostracized had less impact on participants with stronger IS. Furthermore, Study 2 revealed that IS was associated with habitually stronger emotion regulation strategies. We conclude that having access to bodily signals helps (IS reducing aversive states provoked by social exclusion, probably due to the fact that IS is associated with emotion regulation strategies..

Mapping and characterization of positive and negative BOLD responses to visual stimulation in multiple brain regions at 7T

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jorge, João; Figueiredo, Patrícia; Gruetter, Rolf; Van der Zwaag, W.

External stimuli and tasks often elicit negative BOLD responses in various brain regions, and growing experimental evidence supports that these phenomena are functionally meaningful. In this work, the high sensitivity available at 7T was explored to map and characterize both positive (PBRs) and

How psychological and behavioral team states change during positive and negative momentum.

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Den Hartigh, Ruud J R; Gernigon, Christophe; Van Yperen, Nico W; Marin, Ludovic; Van Geert, Paul L C

2014-01-01

In business and sports, teams often experience periods of positive and negative momentum while pursuing their goals. However, researchers have not yet been able to provide insights into how psychological and behavioral states actually change during positive and negative team momentum. In the current study we aimed to provide these insights by introducing an experimental dynamical research design. Rowing pairs had to compete against a virtual opponent on rowing ergometers, while a screen in front of the team broadcasted the ongoing race. The race was manipulated so that the team's rowing avatar gradually progressed (positive momentum) or regressed (negative momentum) in relation to the victory. The participants responded verbally to collective efficacy and task cohesion items appearing on the screen each minute. In addition, effort exertion and interpersonal coordination were continuously measured. Our results showed negative psychological changes (perceptions of collective efficacy and task cohesion) during negative team momentum, which were stronger than the positive changes during positive team momentum. Moreover, teams' exerted efforts rapidly decreased during negative momentum, whereas positive momentum accompanied a more variable and adaptive sequence of effort exertion. Finally, the interpersonal coordination was worse during negative momentum than during positive momentum. These results provide the first empirical insights into actual team momentum dynamics, and demonstrate how a dynamical research approach significantly contributes to current knowledge on psychological and behavioral processes.

A negative relationship between ventral striatal loss anticipation response and impulsivity in borderline personality disorder.

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Herbort, Maike C; Soch, Joram; Wüstenberg, Torsten; Krauel, Kerstin; Pujara, Maia; Koenigs, Michael; Gallinat, Jürgen; Walter, Henrik; Roepke, Stefan; Schott, Björn H

2016-01-01

Patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) frequently exhibit impulsive behavior, and self-reported impulsivity is typically higher in BPD patients when compared to healthy controls. Previous functional neuroimaging studies have suggested a link between impulsivity, the ventral striatal response to reward anticipation, and prediction errors. Here we investigated the striatal neural response to monetary gain and loss anticipation and their relationship with impulsivity in 21 female BPD patients and 23 age-matched female healthy controls using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants performed a delayed monetary incentive task in which three categories of objects predicted a potential gain, loss, or neutral outcome. Impulsivity was assessed using the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11). Compared to healthy controls, BPD patients exhibited significantly reduced fMRI responses of the ventral striatum/nucleus accumbens (VS/NAcc) to both reward-predicting and loss-predicting cues. BIS-11 scores showed a significant positive correlation with the VS/NAcc reward anticipation responses in healthy controls, and this correlation, while also nominally positive, failed to reach significance in BPD patients. BPD patients, on the other hand, exhibited a significantly negative correlation between ventral striatal loss anticipation responses and BIS-11 scores, whereas this correlation was significantly positive in healthy controls. Our results suggest that patients with BPD show attenuated anticipation responses in the VS/NAcc and, furthermore, that higher impulsivity in BPD patients might be related to impaired prediction of aversive outcomes.

Body-part compatibility effects are modulated by the tendency for women to experience negative social comparative emotions and the body-type of the model.

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Pila, Eva; Jovanov, Kimberely; Welsh, Timothy N; Sabiston, Catherine M

2017-01-01

Although exposure to physique-salient media images of women's bodies has been consistently linked with negative psychological consequences, little is known about the cognitive processes that lead to these negative effects. The present study employed a novel adaptation of a computerized response time (RT) task to (i) assess implicit cognitive processing when exposed to the body of another individual, and (ii) examine individual differences in social comparative emotions that may influence the cognitive processing of human bodies. Adult females with low (n = 44) or high (n = 23) tendencies for comparative emotions completed a task in which they executed responses to coloured targets presented on the hands or feet of images of ultra-thin, average-size, and above average-size female models. Although the colour of the target is the only relevant target feature, it is typically found that the to-be-ignored location of the target on the body of the model influences RTs such that RTs are shorter when the target is on a body-part that is compatible with the responding limb (e.g., hand response when target was on hand) than on a body-part that is incompatible with the responding limb (e.g., hand response when target was on foot). Findings from the present study revealed that the magnitude of the body-part compatibility effect (i.e., the index of the cognitive processing of the model) was modulated by tendencies for affective body-related comparisons. Specifically, women who were prone to experiencing social comparative emotions demonstrated stronger and more consistent body-part compatibility effects across models. Therefore, women with higher social comparison tendencies have heightened processing of bodies at a neurocognitive level and may be at higher risk of the negative outcomes linked with physique-salient media exposure.

Tomato NAC transcription factor SlSRN1 positively regulates defense response against biotic stress but negatively regulates abiotic stress response.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bo Liu

Full Text Available Biotic and abiotic stresses are major unfavorable factors that affect crop productivity worldwide. NAC proteins comprise a large family of transcription factors that play important roles in plant growth and development as well as in responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. In a virus-induced gene silencing-based screening to identify genes that are involved in defense response against Botrytis cinerea, we identified a tomato NAC gene SlSRN1 (Solanum lycopersicum Stress-related NAC1. SlSRN1 is a plasma membrane-localized protein with transactivation activity in yeast. Expression of SlSRN1 was significantly induced by infection with B. cinerea or Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (Pst DC3000, leading to 6-8 folds higher than that in the mock-inoculated plants. Expression of SlSRN1 was also induced by salicylic acid, jasmonic acid and 1-amino cyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid and by drought stress. Silencing of SlSRN1 resulted in increased severity of diseases caused by B. cinerea and Pst DC3000. However, silencing of SlSRN1 resulted in increased tolerance against oxidative and drought stresses. Furthermore, silencing of SlSRN1 accelerated accumulation of reactive oxygen species but attenuated expression of defense genes after infection by B. cinerea. Our results demonstrate that SlSRN1 is a positive regulator of defense response against B. cinerea and Pst DC3000 but is a negative regulator for oxidative and drought stress response in tomato.

Fetal programming: excess prenatal testosterone reduces postnatal luteinizing hormone, but not follicle-stimulating hormone responsiveness, to estradiol negative feedback in the female.

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Sarma, Hirendra N; Manikkam, Mohan; Herkimer, Carol; Dell'Orco, James; Welch, Kathleen B; Foster, Douglas L; Padmanabhan, Vasantha

2005-10-01

Exposure of female sheep fetuses to excess testosterone (T) during early to midgestation produces postnatal hypergonadotropism manifest as a selective increase in LH. This hypergonadotropism may result from reduced sensitivity to estradiol (E2) negative feedback and/or increased pituitary sensitivity to GnRH. We tested the hypothesis that excess T before birth reduces responsiveness of LH and FSH to E2 negative feedback after birth. Pregnant ewes were treated with T propionate (100 mg/kg in cotton seed oil) or vehicle twice weekly from d 30-90 gestation. Responsiveness to E2 negative feedback was assessed at 12 and 24 wk of age in the ovary-intact female offspring. Our experimental strategy was first to arrest follicular growth and reduce endogenous E2 by administering the GnRH antagonist (GnRH-A), Nal-Glu (50 microg/kg sc every 12 h for 72 h), and then provide a fixed amount of exogenous E2 via an implant. Blood samples were obtained every 20 min at 12 wk and every 10 min at 24 wk before treatment, during and after GnRH-A treatment both before and after E2 implant. GnRH-A ablated LH pulsatility, reduced FSH by approximately 25%, and E2 production diminished to near detection limit of assay at both ages in both groups. Prenatal T treatment produced a precocious and selective reduction in responsiveness of LH but not FSH to E2 negative feedback, which was manifest mainly at the level of LH/GnRH pulse frequency. Collectively, these findings support the hypothesis that prenatal exposure to excess T decreases postnatal responsiveness to E2 inhibitory feedback of LH/GnRH secretion to contribute to the development of hypergonadotropism.

Catechol-O-methyltransferase gene variants may associate with negative symptom response and plasma concentrations of prolactin in schizophrenia after amisulpride treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Chun-Yen; Yeh, Yi-Wei; Kuo, Shin-Chang; Ho, Pei-Shen; Liang, Chih-Sung; Yen, Che-Hung; Lu, Ru-Band; Huang, San-Yuan

2016-03-01

Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) enzyme is involved in the pathogenesis of psychotic symptoms and may be associated with a therapeutic response to antipsychotic drugs. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between COMT variants, plasma prolactin level, and the therapeutic effectiveness of amisulpride treatment in patients with schizophrenia. A 12-week naturalistic study of amisulpride treatment was carried out in 185 Han Chinese patients with schizophrenia. The patients were screened for 14 single-nucleotide polymorphisms of the COMT gene. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was used to assess the improvement of psychopathological symptoms from the baseline to the end point in each subject. For better presentation of time-course changes in response status, a mixed model for repeated-measures (MMRM) analysis of symptom improvement during the 12-week treatment period was conducted. The change in plasma prolactin level after amisulpride treatment was also examined (n=51). No significant differences in the genotype frequencies of the COMT variants investigated were observed between responders and non-responders. Moreover, an MMRM analysis of psychopathological symptom improvement during the 12-week treatment course showed that it depended significantly on COMT variants (rs4680, rs4633, and rs6267), particularly regarding changes in negative symptoms. The increase in plasma prolactin levels observed was influenced by the COMT rs4680 variant and was positively correlated with a reduction in PANSS negative scores. Our results suggest that variation of the COMT gene is associated with treatment response regarding negative symptoms and prolactin changes after amisulpride treatment in patients with schizophrenia. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cholesterol negatively regulates IL-9-producing CD8+ T cell differentiation and antitumor activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Xingzhe; Bi, Enguang; Huang, Chunjian; Lu, Yong; Xue, Gang; Guo, Xing; Wang, Aibo; Yang, Maojie; Qian, Jianfei; Dong, Chen; Yi, Qing

2018-05-09

CD8 + T cells can be polarized into IL-9-secreting (Tc9) cells. We previously showed that adoptive therapy using tumor-specific Tc9 cells generated stronger antitumor responses in mouse melanoma than classical Tc1 cells. To understand why Tc9 cells exert stronger antitumor responses, we used gene profiling to compare Tc9 and Tc1 cells. Tc9 cells expressed different levels of cholesterol synthesis and efflux genes and possessed significantly lower cholesterol content than Tc1 cells. Unique to Tc9, but not other CD8 + or CD4 + T cell subsets, manipulating cholesterol content in polarizing Tc9 cells significantly affected IL-9 expression and Tc9 differentiation and antitumor response in vivo. Mechanistic studies showed that IL-9 was indispensable for Tc9 cell persistence and antitumor effects, and cholesterol or its derivatives inhibited IL-9 expression by activating liver X receptors (LXRs), leading to LXR Sumoylation and reduced p65 binding to Il9 promoter. Our study identifies cholesterol as a critical regulator of Tc9 cell differentiation and function. © 2018 Ma et al.

Positive response to neoadjuvant cyclophosphamide and doxorubicin in topoisomerase II nonamplified/HER2/neu negative/polysomy 17 absent breast cancer patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henry G Kaplan

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Henry G Kaplan1, Judith A Malmgren2,3, Mary Atwood1, Lynn C Goldstein41Swedish Cancer Institute at Swedish Medical Center, Seattle, Washington, USA; 2HealthStat Consulting Inc., Seattle, Washington, USA; 3School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA; 4PhenoPath Laboratories, Seattle, Washington, USAPurpose: Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2/neu, topoisomerase II alpha (TOP2A, and polysomy 17 may predict tumor responsiveness to doxorubicin (DOX therapy.Methods: We identified neoadjuvant DOX/cyclophosphamide treated breast cancer patients in our registry from 1997 to 2008 with sufficient tissue for testing (n = 34. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH testing was done on deparaffinized tissue sections pretreated using vendor’s standard protocol modification, and incubated with US Food and Drug Administration approved Abbott Diagnostics Vysis PathVysion™ probe set, including Spectrum-Green-conjugated probe to a-satellite DNA located at the centromere of chromosome 17 (17p11.1–q11.1 and a Spectrum-Orange-conjugated probe to the TOP2A gene. Morphometric analysis was performed using a MetaSystems image analysis system. Manual counting was performed on all samples in which autofluorescence and/or artifact prevented the counting of sufficient numbers of cells. A ratio >2.0 was considered positive for TOP2A amplification. Polysomy 17 (PS17 presence was defined as signals of ≥2.5. Outcomes were pathological complete response (pCR, partial response (PR, and nonresponse (NR.Results: Of 34 patients tested, one was TOP2A amplified (hormone receptor negative/HER2 ­negative, partial responder. The subset of TOP2A nonamplified, HER2 negative, and PS17 absent (n = 23 patients had treatment response: pCR = 2 (9%, PR = 14 (61%, and NR = 7 (30%. Including the two PS17 present and HER2-positive patients (n = 33, 76% of TOP2A nonamplified patients had pCR or PR

Early Puberty, Negative Peer Influence, and Problem Behaviors in Adolescent Girls

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Elliott, Marc N.; Davies, Susan; Tortolero, Susan R.; Cuccaro, Paula; Schuster, Mark A.

2014-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To determine how early puberty and peer deviance relate to trajectories of aggressive and delinquent behavior in early adolescence and whether these relationships differ by race/ethnicity. METHODS: In this longitudinal study, 2607 girls from 3 metropolitan areas and their parents were interviewed at ages 11, 13, and 16 years. Girls reported on their age of onset of menarche, best friend’s deviant behavior, delinquency, and physical, relational, and nonphysical aggression. Parents provided information on family sociodemographic characteristics and girls’ race/ethnicity. RESULTS: Sixteen percent of girls were classified as early maturers (defined by onset of menarche before age 11 years). Overall, relational and nonphysical aggression increased from age 11 to age 16, whereas delinquency and physical aggression remained stable. Early puberty was associated with elevated delinquency and physical aggression at age 11. The relationship with early puberty diminished over time for physical aggression but not for delinquency. Best friend’s deviant behavior was linked with higher levels of all problem behaviors, but the effect lessened over time for most outcomes. Early puberty was associated with a stronger link between best friend’s deviance and delinquency, suggesting increased vulnerability to negative peer influences among early-maturing girls. A similar vulnerability was observed for relational and nonphysical aggression among girls in the “other” racial/ethnic minority group only. CONCLUSIONS: Early puberty and friends’ deviance may increase the risk of problem behavior in young adolescent girls. Although many of these associations dissipate over time, early-maturing girls are at risk of persistently higher delinquency and stronger negative peer influences. PMID:24324002

Early puberty, negative peer influence, and problem behaviors in adolescent girls.

Science.gov (United States)

Mrug, Sylvie; Elliott, Marc N; Davies, Susan; Tortolero, Susan R; Cuccaro, Paula; Schuster, Mark A

2014-01-01

To determine how early puberty and peer deviance relate to trajectories of aggressive and delinquent behavior in early adolescence and whether these relationships differ by race/ethnicity. In this longitudinal study, 2607 girls from 3 metropolitan areas and their parents were interviewed at ages 11, 13, and 16 years. Girls reported on their age of onset of menarche, best friend's deviant behavior, delinquency, and physical, relational, and nonphysical aggression. Parents provided information on family sociodemographic characteristics and girls' race/ethnicity. Sixteen percent of girls were classified as early maturers (defined by onset of menarche before age 11 years). Overall, relational and nonphysical aggression increased from age 11 to age 16, whereas delinquency and physical aggression remained stable. Early puberty was associated with elevated delinquency and physical aggression at age 11. The relationship with early puberty diminished over time for physical aggression but not for delinquency. Best friend's deviant behavior was linked with higher levels of all problem behaviors, but the effect lessened over time for most outcomes. Early puberty was associated with a stronger link between best friend's deviance and delinquency, suggesting increased vulnerability to negative peer influences among early-maturing girls. A similar vulnerability was observed for relational and nonphysical aggression among girls in the "other" racial/ethnic minority group only. Early puberty and friends' deviance may increase the risk of problem behavior in young adolescent girls. Although many of these associations dissipate over time, early-maturing girls are at risk of persistently higher delinquency and stronger negative peer influences.

Quadratic solitons for negative effective second-harmonic diffraction as nonlocal solitons with periodic nonlocal response function

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Esbensen, B.K.; Bache, Morten; Krolikowski, W.

2012-01-01

We employ the formal analogy between quadratic and nonlocal solitons to investigate analytically the properties of solitons and soliton bound states in second-harmonic generation in the regime of negative diffraction or dispersion of the second harmonic. We show that in the nonlocal description...... this regime corresponds to a periodic nonlocal response function. We then use the strongly nonlocal approximation to find analytical solutions of the families of single bright solitons and their bound states in terms of Mathieu functions....

Stronger interference from distractors in the right hemifield during visual search.

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Carlei, Christophe; Kerzel, Dirk

2018-03-01

The orientation-bias hypothesis states that there is a bias to attend to the right visual hemifield (RVF) when there is spatial competition between stimuli in the left and right hemifield [Pollmann, S. (1996). A pop-out induced extinction-like phenomenon in neurologically intact subjects. Neuropsychologia, 34(5), 413-425. doi: 10.1016/0028-3932(95)00125-5 ]. In support of this hypothesis, stronger interference was reported for RVF distractors with contralateral targets. In contrast, previous studies using rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) found stronger interference from distractors in the left visual hemifield (LVF). We used the additional singleton paradigm to test whether this discrepancy was due to the different distractor features that were employed (colour vs. orientation). Interference from the colour distractor with contralateral targets was larger in the RVF than in the LVF. However, the asymmetrical interference disappeared when observers had to search for an inconspicuous colour target instead of the inconspicuous shape target. We suggest that the LVF orienting-bias is limited to situations where search is driven by bottom-up saliency (singleton search) instead of top-down search goals (feature search). In contrast, analysis of the literature suggests the opposite for the LVF bias in RSVP tasks. Thus, the attentional asymmetry may depend on whether the task involves temporal or spatial competition, and whether search is based on bottom-up or top-down signals.

The Integration Role of European Defense Procurement in Achieving a More Competitive and Stronger European Defense Equipment Market

Science.gov (United States)

2015-06-01

and systems, even monopolistic ) essence of the supply side of the defense market . There are only a few suppliers that can meet today’s complex...DEFENSE PROCUREMENT IN ACHIEVING A MORE COMPETITIVE AND STRONGER EUROPEAN DEFENSE EQUIPMENT MARKET by Kiril O. Angelov June 2015 Thesis Advisor...COMPETITIVE AND STRONGER EUROPEAN DEFENSE EQUIPMENT MARKET 5. FUNDING NUMBERS 6. AUTHOR(S) Kiril O. Angelov 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND

LACK OF REPRODUCIBILITY OF A SINGLE NEGATIVE STING CHALLENGE RESPONSE IN THE ASSESSMENT OF ANAPHYLACTIC RISK IN PATIENTS WITH SUSPECTED YELLOW JACKET HYPERSENSITIVITY

NARCIS (Netherlands)

FRANKEN, HH; DUBOIS, AEJ; MINKEMA, HJ; VANDERHEIDE, S; DEMONCHY, JGR

To investigate the reproducibility of a single negative response to sting challenge with a living insect, we rechallenged a group of 61 patients who showed no clinical response to a first sting challenge. All patients had previously had symptoms suggestive of anaphylaxis after a yellow jacket field

Suggestibility and negative priming: two replication studies.

Science.gov (United States)

David, Daniel; Brown, Richard J

2002-07-01

Research suggests that inhibiting the effect of irrelevant stimuli on subsequent thought and action (cognitive inhibition) may be an important component of suggestibility. Two small correlation studies were conducted to address the relationship between different aspects of suggestibility and individual differences in cognitive inhibition, operationalized as the degree of negative priming generated by to-be-ignored stimuli in a semantic categorization task. The first study found significant positive correlations between negative priming, hypnotic suggestibility, and creative imagination; a significant negative correlation was obtained between negative priming and interrogative suggestibility, demonstrating the discriminant validity of the study results. The second study replicated the correlation between negative priming and hypnotic suggestibility, using a different suggestibility measurement procedure that assessed subjective experience and hypnotic involuntariness as well as objective responses to suggestions. These studies support the notion that the ability to engage in cognitive inhibition may be an important component of hypnotic responsivity and maybe of other forms of suggestibility.

Family stress and parental responses to children's negative emotions: tests of the spillover, crossover, and compensatory hypotheses.

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, Jackie A; O'Brien, Marion; Blankson, A Nayena; Calkins, Susan D; Keane, Susan P

2009-10-01

The relations between 4 sources of family stress (marital dissatisfaction, home chaos, parental depressive symptoms, and job role dissatisfaction) and the emotion socialization practice of mothers' and fathers' responses to children's negative emotions were examined. Participants included 101 couples with 7-year-old children. Dyadic analyses were conducted using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model and relations were tested in terms of the spillover, crossover, and compensatory hypotheses. Results suggest that measures of family stress relate to supportive and nonsupportive parental responses, though many of these relations differ by parent gender. The results are discussed in terms of the 3 theoretical hypotheses, all of which are supported to some degree depending on the family stressor examined.

An error-related negativity potential investigation of response monitoring function in individuals with Internet addiction disorder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhenhe eZhou

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Internet addiction disorder (IAD is an impulse disorder or at least related to impulse control disorder. Deficits in executive functioning, including response monitoring, have been proposed as a hallmark feature of impulse control disorders. The error-related negativity (ERN reflects individual’s ability to monitor behavior. Since IAD belongs to a compulsive-impulsive spectrum disorder, theoretically, it should present response monitoring functional deficit characteristics of some disorders, such as substance dependence, ADHD or alcohol abuse, testing with an Erikson flanker task. Up to now, no studies on response monitoring functional deficit in IAD were reported. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether IAD displays response monitoring functional deficit characteristics in a modified Erikson flanker task.23 subjects were recruited as IAD group. 23 matched age, gender and education healthy persons were recruited as control group. All participants completed the modified Erikson flanker task while measured with event-related potentials (ERPs. IAD group made more total error rates than did controls (P < 0.01; Reactive times for total error responses in IAD group were shorter than did controls (P < 0.01. The mean ERN amplitudes of total error response conditions at frontal electrode sites and at central electrode sites of IAD group were reduced compared with control group (all P < 0.01. These results revealed that IAD displays response monitoring functional deficit characteristics and shares ERN characteristics of compulsive-impulsive spectrum disorder.

Brief learning induces a memory bias for arousing-negative words: an fMRI study in high and low trait anxious persons.

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Eden, Annuschka S; Dehmelt, Vera; Bischoff, Matthias; Zwitserlood, Pienie; Kugel, Harald; Keuper, Kati; Zwanzger, Peter; Dobel, Christian

2015-01-01

Persons suffering from anxiety disorders display facilitated processing of arousing and negative stimuli, such as negative words. This memory bias is reflected in better recall and increased amygdala activity in response to such stimuli. However, individual learning histories were not considered in most studies, a concern that we meet here. Thirty-four female persons (half with high-, half with low trait anxiety) participated in a criterion-based associative word-learning paradigm, in which neutral pseudowords were paired with aversive or neutral pictures, which should lead to a valence change for the negatively paired pseudowords. After learning, pseudowords were tested with fMRI to investigate differential brain activation of the amygdala evoked by the newly acquired valence. Explicit and implicit memory was assessed directly after training and in three follow-ups at 4-day intervals. The behavioral results demonstrate that associative word-learning leads to an explicit (but no implicit) memory bias for negatively linked pseudowords, relative to neutral ones, which confirms earlier studies. Bilateral amygdala activation underlines the behavioral effect: Higher trait anxiety is correlated with stronger amygdala activation for negatively linked pseudowords than for neutrally linked ones. Most interestingly, this effect is also present for negatively paired pseudowords that participants could not remember well. Moreover, neutrally paired pseudowords evoked higher amygdala reactivity than completely novel ones in highly anxious persons, which can be taken as evidence for generalization. These findings demonstrate that few word-learning trials generate a memory bias for emotional stimuli, indexed both behaviorally and neurophysiologically. Importantly, the typical memory bias for emotional stimuli and the generalization to neutral ones is larger in high anxious persons.

Brief learning induces a memory bias for arousing-negative words: An fMRI study in high and low trait anxious persons

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Annuschka Salima Eden

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Persons suffering from anxiety disorders display facilitated processing of arousing and negative stimuli, such as negative words. This memory bias is reflected in better recall and increased amygdala activity in response to such stimuli. However, individual learning histories were not considered in most studies, a concern that we meet here. Thirty-four female persons (half with high-, half with low trait anxiety participated in a criterion-based associative word-learning paradigm, in which neutral pseudowords were paired with aversive or neutral pictures, which should lead to a valence change for the negatively paired pseudowords. After learning, pseudowords were tested with fMRI to investigate differential brain activation of the amygdala evoked by the newly acquired valence. Explicit and implicit memory was assessed directly after training and in three follow-ups at four-day intervals. The behavioral results demonstrate that associative word-learning leads to an explicit (but no implicit memory bias for negatively linked pseudowords, relative to neutral ones, which confirms earlier studies. Bilateral amygdala activation underlines the behavioral effect: Higher trait anxiety is correlated with stronger amygdala activation for negatively linked pseudowords than for neutrally linked ones. Most interestingly, this effect is also present for negatively paired pseudowords that participants could not remember well. Moreover, neutrally paired pseudowords evoked higher amygdala reactivity than completely novel ones in highly anxious persons, which can be taken as evidence for generalization. These findings demonstrate that few word-learning trials generate a memory bias for emotional stimuli, indexed both behaviorally and neurophysiologically. Importantly, the typical memory bias for emotional stimuli and the generalization to neutral ones is larger in high anxious persons.

Dynamics of response-conflict monitoring and individual differences in response control and behavioral control: an electrophysiological investigation using a stop-signal task.

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Stahl, Jutta; Gibbons, Henning

2007-03-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate the functional significance of error (related) negativity Ne/ERN and individual differences in human action monitoring. A response-conflict model of Ne/ERN should be tested applying a stop-signal paradigm. After a few modifications of Ne/ERN response-conflict theory (Yeung N, Botvinick MM, Cohen JD. The neural basis of error detection: conflict monitoring and the error-related negativity. Psychological Review 2004:111(4);931-959), strength and time course of response conflict could be modeled as a function of stop-signal delay. In Experiment 1, 35 participants performed a visual two-choice response-time task but tried to withhold the response if an auditory stop signal was presented. Probability of stopping errors was held at 50% using variable delays between visual and auditory stimuli. Experiment 2 (n=10) employed both auditory go and stop signals and confirmed that Ne/ERN effects are due to conflict induced by the auditory stop signal, and not the mere presence or absence of an additional stimulus. As predicted, amplitudes of both the stimulus-locked and response-locked Ne/ERN were largest for non-stopped responses, followed by successfully stopped and go responses. However, independently of response type Ne/ERN also increased with increasing stop-signal delay. Since longer delay invokes stronger response conflict, results specifically support the notion of Ne/ERN reflecting response-conflict monitoring. Furthermore, individual differences related to measures of response control and behavioral control were observed. Both low response control estimated from stop-task performance and high psychometric impulsivity were accompanied by smaller Ne/ERN amplitude on stop trials, suggesting reduced response-conflict monitoring. The present study supported the response-conflict view of Ne/ERN. Furthermore, the observed relationship between impulsivity and Ne/ERN amplitude suggested that individuals with low behavioral

Unattractive infant faces elicit negative affect from adults.

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Schein, Stevie S; Langlois, Judith H

2015-02-01

We examined the relationship between infant attractiveness and adult affect by investigating whether differing levels of infant facial attractiveness elicit facial muscle movement correlated with positive and negative affect from adults (N=87) using electromyography. Unattractive infant faces evoked significantly more corrugator supercilii and levator labii superioris movement (physiological correlates of negative affect) than attractive infant faces. These results suggest that unattractive infants may be at risk for negative affective responses from adults, though the relationship between those responses and caregiving behavior remains elusive. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Collective Nostalgia Is Associated With Stronger Outgroup-Directed Anger and Participation in Ingroup-Favoring Collective Action

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Wing-Yee Cheung

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Collective nostalgia refers to longing for the way society used to be. We tested whether collective nostalgia is associated with ingroup-favoring collective action and whether this association is mediated by outgroup-directed anger and outgroup-directed contempt. We conducted an online study of Hong Kong residents (N = 111 during a large-scale democratic social movement, the Umbrella Movement, that took place in Hong Kong in 2014 in response to proposed electoral reforms by the Chinese government in Mainland China. Reported collective nostalgia for Hong Kong’s past was high in our sample and collective nostalgia predicted stronger involvement in ingroup-favoring collective action, and it did so indirectly via higher intensity of outgroup-directed anger (but not through outgroup-directed contempt. We argue that collective nostalgia has implications for strengthening ingroup-serving collective action, and we highlight the importance of arousal of group-based emotions in this process.

Fear of negative evaluation modulates electrocortical and behavioral responses when anticipating social evaluative feedback

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Melle J.W. Van Der Molen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Cognitive models posit that the fear of negative evaluation (FNE is a hallmark feature of social anxiety. As such, individuals with high FNE may show biased information processing when faced with social evaluation. The aim of the current study was to examine the neural underpinnings of anticipating and processing of social-evaluative feedback, and its correlates with FNE. We used a social judgment paradigm in which female participants (N=31 were asked to indicate whether they believed to be socially accepted or rejected by their peers. Anticipatory attention was indexed by the stimulus preceding negativity (SPN, while the feedback-related negativity and P3 were used to index the processing of social-evaluative feedback. Results provided evidence of an optimism bias in social peer evaluation, as participants more often predicted to be socially accepted than rejected. Participants with high levels of FNE needed more time to provide their judgments about the social-evaluative outcome. While anticipating social-evaluative feedback, SPN amplitudes were larger for anticipated social acceptance than for social rejection feedback. Interestingly, the SPN during anticipated social acceptance was larger in participants with high levels of FNE. None of the feedback-related brain potentials correlated with the FNE. Together, the results provide evidence of biased information processing in individuals with high levels of FNE when anticipating (rather than processing social-evaluative feedback. The delayed response times in high FNE individuals were interpreted to reflect augmented vigilance imposed by the upcoming social evaluative threat. Allegedly, the SPN constitutes a neural marker of this vigilance in females with higher FNE levels, particularly when anticipating social acceptance feedback.

Fear of negative evaluation modulates electrocortical and behavioral responses when anticipating social evaluative feedback

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Van der Molen, Melle J. W.; Poppelaars, Eefje S.; Van Hartingsveldt, Caroline T. A.; Harrewijn, Anita; Gunther Moor, Bregtje; Westenberg, P. Michiel

2014-01-01

Cognitive models posit that the fear of negative evaluation (FNE) is a hallmark feature of social anxiety. As such, individuals with high FNE may show biased information processing when faced with social evaluation. The aim of the current study was to examine the neural underpinnings of anticipating and processing social-evaluative feedback, and its correlates with FNE. We used a social judgment paradigm in which female participants (N = 31) were asked to indicate whether they believed to be socially accepted or rejected by their peers. Anticipatory attention was indexed by the stimulus preceding negativity (SPN), while the feedback-related negativity and P3 were used to index the processing of social-evaluative feedback. Results provided evidence of an optimism bias in social peer evaluation, as participants more often predicted to be socially accepted than rejected. Participants with high levels of FNE needed more time to provide their judgments about the social-evaluative outcome. While anticipating social-evaluative feedback, SPN amplitudes were larger for anticipated social acceptance than for social rejection feedback. Interestingly, the SPN during anticipated social acceptance was larger in participants with high levels of FNE. None of the feedback-related brain potentials correlated with the FNE. Together, the results provided evidence of biased information processing in individuals with high levels of FNE when anticipating (rather than processing) social-evaluative feedback. The delayed response times in high FNE individuals were interpreted to reflect augmented vigilance imposed by the upcoming social-evaluative threat. Possibly, the SPN constitutes a neural marker of this vigilance in females with higher FNE levels, particularly when anticipating social acceptance feedback. PMID:24478667

BAS-drive trait modulates dorsomedial striatum activity during reward response-outcome associations.

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Costumero, Víctor; Barrós-Loscertales, Alfonso; Fuentes, Paola; Rosell-Negre, Patricia; Bustamante, Juan Carlos; Ávila, César

2016-09-01

According to the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory, behavioral studies have found that individuals with stronger reward sensitivity easily detect cues of reward and establish faster associations between instrumental responses and reward. Neuroimaging studies have shown that processing anticipatory cues of reward is accompanied by stronger ventral striatum activity in individuals with stronger reward sensitivity. Even though establishing response-outcome contingencies has been consistently associated with dorsal striatum, individual differences in this process are poorly understood. Here, we aimed to study the relation between reward sensitivity and brain activity while processing response-reward contingencies. Forty-five participants completed the BIS/BAS questionnaire and performed a gambling task paradigm in which they received monetary rewards or punishments. Overall, our task replicated previous results that have related processing high reward outcomes with activation of striatum and medial frontal areas, whereas processing high punishment outcomes was associated with stronger activity in insula and middle cingulate. As expected, the individual differences in the activity of dorsomedial striatum correlated positively with BAS-Drive. Our results agree with previous studies that have related the dorsomedial striatum with instrumental performance, and suggest that the individual differences in this area may form part of the neural substrate responsible for modulating instrumental conditioning by reward sensitivity.

Double-standards in reporting of risk and responsibility for sexual health: a qualitative content analysis of negatively toned UK newsprint articles.

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Martin, Susan P; McDaid, Lisa M; Hilton, Shona

2014-08-04

The need to challenge messages that reinforce harmful negative discourses around sexual risk and responsibility is a priority in improving sexual health. The mass media are an important source of information regularly alerting, updating and influencing public opinions and the way in which sexual health issues are framed may play a crucial role in shaping expectations of who is responsible for sexual health risks and healthy sexual practices. We conducted an in-depth, qualitative analysis of 85 negatively toned newspaper articles reporting on sexual health topics to examine how risk and responsibility have been framed within these in relation to gender. Articles published in 2010 in seven UK and three Scottish national newspapers were included. A latent content analysis approach was taken, focusing on interpreting the underlying meaning of text. A key theme in the articles was men being framed as a risk to women's sexual health, whilst it was part of a women's role to "resist" men's advances. Such discourses tended to portray a power imbalance in sexual relationships between women and men. A number of articles argued that it was women who needed to take more responsibility for sexual health. Articles repeatedly suggested that women and teenage girls in particular, lacked the skills and confidence to negotiate safer sex and sex education programmes were often presented as having failed. Men were frequently portrayed as being more promiscuous and engaging in more risky sexual health behaviours than women, yet just one article drew attention to the lack of focus on male responsibility for sexual health. Gay men were used as a bench mark against which rates were measured and framed as being a risk and at risk. The framing of men as a risk to women, whilst women are presented at the same time as responsible for patrolling sexual encounters, organising contraception and preventing sexual ill health reinforces gender stereotypes and undermines efforts to promote a

Negative affect as a mediator of the relationship between vigorous-intensity exercise and smoking.

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Tart, Candyce D; Leyro, Teresa M; Richter, Ashley; Zvolensky, Michael J; Rosenfield, David; Smits, Jasper A J

2010-06-01

The present cross-sectional study evaluated whether people who engage in vigorous-intensity exercise are better able to regulate negative affective states, thereby changing core maintenance factors of smoking. Participants were a community sample of adults (n = 270) who completed self-report measures of physical activity, cigarette smoking, anxiety sensitivity, and negative affect. Consistent with hypothesis, vigorous-intensity exercise was related to lower levels of cigarette smoking, accounting for 10% of the variance in smoking. Additionally, negative affect mediated the relationship between vigorous-intensity physical activity and cigarette smoking, accounting for about 12% of this relation. Furthermore, these relationships were stronger for individuals with high anxiety sensitivity than for those with low anxiety sensitivity; including anxiety sensitivity as a moderator of the mediated relationship increased the amount of variance accounted for by negative affect to 17%. The findings are discussed in relation to developing further scientific insight into the mechanisms and pathways relevant to understanding the association among vigorous-intensity exercise, smoking, and emotional vulnerability. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

How the doc should (not) talk: When breaking bad news with negations influences patients' immediate responses and medical adherence intentions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Burgers, C.F.; Beukeboom, C.J.; Sparks, L

2012-01-01

Objective: We investigate the role of specific formulations in a doctor's bad news delivery. We focus on the effects of negations and message framing on patients' immediate responses to the message and the doctor, and long-term consequences including quality of life and medical adherence intentions.

Maternal Punitive Reactions to Children's Negative Emotions and Young Adult Trait Anger: Effect of Gender and Emotional Closeness.

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Perry, Nicole B; Cavanaugh, Alyson; Dunbar, Angel; Leerkes, Esther M

The current study tested whether young adult's recollected reports of their mother's punitive reactions to their negative emotions in childhood predicted anger expression in young adulthood and whether emotional closeness weakens this association. Further, a three-way interaction was tested to examine whether emotional closeness is a stronger protective factor for young women than for young men. Results revealed a significant three-way interaction (gender X emotional closeness X maternal punitive reactions). For young men, maternal punitive reactions to negative emotions were directly associated with increased anger expressions. Maternal punitive reactions to young women's negative emotions in childhood were associated with increased anger in adulthood only when they reported low maternal emotional closeness. Findings suggest that maternal emotional closeness may serve as a buffer against the negative effects of maternal punitive reactions for women's anger expression in young adulthood.

Negative and positive participant responses to the composite international diagnostic interview - Results of the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Graaf, R. de; Have, M.L. ten; Dorsselaer, S.A.F.M. van; Schoemaker, C.G.; Vollebergh, W.A.M.

2004-01-01

Little is known about the emotional responses of participants in community surveys to standardised psychiatric interviews like the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). This study investigates the proportion of subjects responding negatively or positively to the CIDI, and identifies

Lax decision criteria lead to negativity bias: evidence from the emotional stroop task.

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Liu, Guofang; Xin, Ziqiang; Lin, Chongde

2014-06-01

Negativity bias means that negative information is usually given more emphasis than comparable positive information. Under signal detection theory, recent research found that people more frequently and incorrectly identify negative task-related words as having been presented originally than positive words, even when they were not presented. That is, people have lax decision criteria for negative words. However, the response biases for task-unrelated negative words and for emotionally important words are still unclear. This study investigated response bias for these two kinds of words. Study 1 examined the response bias for task-unrelated negative words using an emotional Stroop task. Proportions of correct recognition to negative and positive words were assessed by non-parametric signal detection analysis. Participants have lower (i.e., more lax) decision criteria for task-unrelated negative words than for positive words. Study 2 supported and expanded this result by investigating participants' response bias for highly emotional words. Participants have lower decision criteria for highly emotional words than for less emotional words. Finally, possible evolutionary sources of the response bias were discussed.

Children's diurnal cortisol responses to negative events at school and home.

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Bai, Sunhye; Robles, Theodore F; Reynolds, Bridget M; Repetti, Rena L

2017-09-01

This study examined the within-and between-person associations between daily negative events - peer problems, academic problems and interparental conflict - and diurnal cortisol in school-age children. Salivary cortisol levels were assessed four times per day (at wakeup, 30min later, just before dinner and at bedtime) on eight days in 47 youths ages 8-13 years old (60% female; M age=11.28, SD=1.50). The relative contributions of within- and between-person variances in each stressor were estimated in models predicting same-day diurnal cortisol slope, same-day bedtime cortisol, and next morning wakeup cortisol. Children who reported more peer problems on average showed flatter slopes of cortisol decline from wakeup to bedtime. However, children secreted more cortisol at wakeup following days when they had reported more peer or academic problems than usual. Interparental conflict was not significantly associated with diurnal cortisol. Findings from this study extend our understanding of short-term cortisol responses to naturally occurring problems in daily life, and help to differentiate these daily processes from the cumulative effects of chronic stress. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Human amygdala response to dynamic facial expressions of positive and negative surprise.

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Vrticka, Pascal; Lordier, Lara; Bediou, Benoît; Sander, David

2014-02-01

Although brain imaging evidence accumulates to suggest that the amygdala plays a key role in the processing of novel stimuli, only little is known about its role in processing expressed novelty conveyed by surprised faces, and even less about possible interactive encoding of novelty and valence. Those investigations that have already probed human amygdala involvement in the processing of surprised facial expressions either used static pictures displaying negative surprise (as contained in fear) or "neutral" surprise, and manipulated valence by contextually priming or subjectively associating static surprise with either negative or positive information. Therefore, it still remains unresolved how the human amygdala differentially processes dynamic surprised facial expressions displaying either positive or negative surprise. Here, we created new artificial dynamic 3-dimensional facial expressions conveying surprise with an intrinsic positive (wonderment) or negative (fear) connotation, but also intrinsic positive (joy) or negative (anxiety) emotions not containing any surprise, in addition to neutral facial displays either containing ("typical surprise" expression) or not containing ("neutral") surprise. Results showed heightened amygdala activity to faces containing positive (vs. negative) surprise, which may either correspond to a specific wonderment effect as such, or to the computation of a negative expected value prediction error. Findings are discussed in the light of data obtained from a closely matched nonsocial lottery task, which revealed overlapping activity within the left amygdala to unexpected positive outcomes. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Protein expression of P13K and P53 in prediction of response to radiotherapy in cervical cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Teja Kisnanto; Devita Tetriana; Iin Kurnia; Sudiono S; Mellova Amir; Budiningsih Siregar; Ramli; Andrijono; Setiawan Soetopo; Irwan; Tjahya Kurjana; Bethy S Hernowo; Maringan DL Tobing

2015-01-01

Cervical cancer is a malignant disease that is common in women and is the first order of malignant disease in Indonesia. Radiotherapy is the main treatment on cervical cancer, especially at an advanced stage (IIB-IIB). P13K and P-53 protein plays a role in the regulation of apoptosis (programmed cell death). The purpose of this study was to determine the protein expression of P13K and P-53 in the prediction of response to radiotherapy action in patients with cervical cancer. Microscopic preparations obtained from biopsy tissue cancer (IIB-IIIB) to 20 patients from RSCM and RSHS. The method used is the method of immunohistochemistry using P13K and P-53 protein biomarkers in cervical cancer tissue preparations. P13K protein expression value obtained by the method of immuno reactive Score (IRS). P13K protein positive expression marked in blue on the cell cytoplasm and P-53 protein is characterized by brown or dark colors contained in the cell nucleus. Results showed that IRS value by 10% a negative P13K, P13K IRS weaker by 70%, IRS P13K was at 15%, and the IRS P13K stronger by 5%. While the index positive P-53 was obtained by 75% and negative P-53 index by 5%. Radiotherapy response analysis showed that there were 75% good response and 25% a bad response. The conclusion from this study is the expression of the protein P13K and P-53 for response prediction of radiotherapy IRS P13K values obtained in response to both radiotherapy is higher compared with radiotherapy response is bad, and the P-53 protein is not found differences in response to radiotherapy between positive and negative expressions. (author)

SNT-2 interacts with ERK2 and negatively regulates ERK2 signaling in response to EGF stimulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Lin; Gotoh, Noriko; Zhang Shengliang; Shibuya, Masabumi; Yamamoto, Tadashi; Tsuchida, Nobuo

2004-01-01

The control of cellular responses with fibroblast growth factors and neurotrophins is mediated through membrane-linked docking proteins, SNT (suc1-binding neurotrophic target)-1/FRS2α and SNT-2/FRS2β. ERK1/2 are members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase family that regulate diverse cellular activities in response to various stimuli. Here, we demonstrate that SNT-2 does not become tyrosine phosphorylated significantly in response to EGF but forms a complex with ERK2 via the region of 186-252 amino acid residues, and the complex formation is enhanced upon EGF stimulation. SNT-2 downregulates ERK2 phosphorylation, suppresses and delays ERK2 nuclear accumulation which occurs following EGF stimulation. In contrast, the mutant SNT-2 which carries deletion of 186-252 amino acids and lacks ERK2 binding does not have these effects. These observations suggest that SNT-2 negatively regulates ERK2 signaling activated via EGF stimulation through direct binding to ERK2

Crosstalk in concurrent repeated games impedes direct reciprocity and requires stronger levels of forgiveness.

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Reiter, Johannes G; Hilbe, Christian; Rand, David G; Chatterjee, Krishnendu; Nowak, Martin A

2018-02-07

Direct reciprocity is a mechanism for cooperation among humans. Many of our daily interactions are repeated. We interact repeatedly with our family, friends, colleagues, members of the local and even global community. In the theory of repeated games, it is a tacit assumption that the various games that a person plays simultaneously have no effect on each other. Here we introduce a general framework that allows us to analyze "crosstalk" between a player's concurrent games. In the presence of crosstalk, the action a person experiences in one game can alter the person's decision in another. We find that crosstalk impedes the maintenance of cooperation and requires stronger levels of forgiveness. The magnitude of the effect depends on the population structure. In more densely connected social groups, crosstalk has a stronger effect. A harsh retaliator, such as Tit-for-Tat, is unable to counteract crosstalk. The crosstalk framework provides a unified interpretation of direct and upstream reciprocity in the context of repeated games.

Mismatch negativity is a stronger indicator of functional outcomes than neurocognition or theory of mind in patients with schizophrenia.

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Lee, Seung-Hwan; Sung, Kyongae; Lee, Kyong-Sang; Moon, Eunok; Kim, Chang-Gyu

2014-01-03

Mismatch negativity (MMN) is known to be associated with neurocognition, social cognition, and functional outcomes. The present study explored the relationships of MMN with neurocognition, theory of mind, and functional outcomes in patients with schizophrenia, first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia, and healthy controls. Twenty-five patients with schizophrenia, 21 first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia, and 29 healthy controls were recruited. We examined symptom severity, neurocognition, theory of mind, functional outcomes, and MMN. MMN amplitudes decreased in order of patients with schizophrenia, then first-degree relatives, then healthy controls. MMN amplitude was significantly correlated with measures of neurocognition, theory of mind, and functional outcome measurements in patients with schizophrenia. However, the most powerful correlations were those between MMN in the frontal region and measures of functional outcomes. The power and frequency of the correlations were weaker in first-degree relatives and healthy controls than in patients with schizophrenia. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that functional outcomes (relative to measures of neurocognition and theory of mind) constituted the most powerful predictor of MMN. Our results suggest that MMN reflects functional outcomes more efficiently than do measures of neurocognition and theory of mind in patients with schizophrenia. © 2013.

Females engage in stronger relationships: positive and negative effects of shrubs are more intense for Poa ligularis females than for males.

Science.gov (United States)

Graff, Pamela; Aguiar, Martin R; Almeida, Rocio J

2018-05-22

Dioecious plants are of particular concern in view of global environmental changes because reproductive females are more sensitive to abiotic stresses, thus compromising population viability. Positive interactions with other plants may counteract the direct effects of any abiotic environmental stress, allowing them to thrive and maintain a viable population in suboptimal habitats, although this process has not been tested for dioecious species. Furthermore, almost no data are available on the outcome of such species interactions and their link with local spatial patterns and sex ratios. We set up a field experiment with Poa ligularis, a dioecious native grass from the arid grasslands of South America. We studied the interaction of male and female plants with cushion shrubs of contrasting ecological strategies. We experimentally limited direct shrub-grass competition for soil moisture and transplanted plants to evaluate the amelioration of abiotic stress by shrub canopies (i.e. sun and wind) on grasses. We also studied the distribution of naturally established female and male plants to infer process-pattern relationships. Positive canopy effects as well as negative below-ground effects were more intense for females than for males. Deep-rooted Mulinum spinosum shrubs strongly facilitated survival, growth and reproduction of P. ligularis females. Naturally established female plants tended to distribute more closely to Mulinum than co-occurring males. Female growth suffered intensive negative root competition from the shallow-rooted Senecio filaginoides shrub. Interactions with other plants may reduce or enhance the effect of abiotic stresses on the seemingly maladapted sex to arid environments. We found that these biased interactions are evident in the current organization of sexes in the field, confirming our experimental findings. Therefore, indirect effects of climate change on population sex ratios may be expected if benefactor species abundances are

Interactive and Indirect Effects of Anxiety and Negative Urgency on Alcohol-Related Problems

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Menary, Kyle R.; Corbin, William R.; Leeman, Robert F.; Fucito, Lisa M.; Toll, Benjamin A.; DeMartini, Kelly; O’Malley, Stephanie S.

2015-01-01

Background Although drinking for tension reduction has long been posited as a risk factor for alcohol-related problems, studies investigating anxiety in relation to risk for alcohol problems have returned inconsistent results, leading researchers to search for potential moderators. Negative urgency (the tendency to become behaviorally dysregulated when experiencing negative affect) is a potential moderator of theoretical interest because it may increase risk for alcohol problems among those high in negative affect. The present study tested a cross-sectional mediated moderation hypothesis whereby an interactive effect of anxiety and negative urgency on alcohol problems is mediated through coping-related drinking motives. Method The study utilized baseline data from a hazardously drinking sample of young adults (N = 193) evaluated for participation in a randomized controlled trial of naltrexone and motivational interviewing for drinking reduction. Results The direct effect of anxiety on physiological dependence symptoms was moderated by negative urgency such that the positive association between anxiety and physiological dependence symptoms became stronger as negative urgency increased. Indirect effects of anxiety and negative urgency on alcohol problems (operating through coping motives) were also observed. Conclusions Although results of the current cross-sectional study require replication using longitudinal data, the findings suggest that the simultaneous presence of anxiety and negative urgency may be an important indicator of risk for AUDs via both direct interactive effects and indirect additive effects operating through coping motives. These findings have potentially important implications for prevention/intervention efforts for individuals who become disinhibited in the context of negative emotional states. PMID:26031346

Overlapping Neural Correlates of Reading Emotionally Positive and Negative Adjectives

OpenAIRE

Demirakca, Traute; Herbert, Cornelia; Kissler, Johanna; Ruf, Matthias; Wokrina, Tim; Ende, Gabriele

2009-01-01

Comparison of positive and negative naturally read adjectives to neutral adjectives yielded an overlapping higher BOLD response in the occipital and the orbitofrontal cortex (gyrus rectus). Superior medial frontal gyrus and posterior cingulate gyrus showed higher BOLD response to negative adjectives and inferior frontal gyrus to positive adjectives. The overlap of activated regions and lack of pronounced distinct regions supports the assumption that the processing of negative and positive wor...

Tattoo or taboo? Tattoo stigma and negative attitudes toward tattooed individuals.

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Broussard, Kristin A; Harton, Helen C

2017-09-21

Tattoos are common in the United States; however, tattooed persons may be perceived as having more negative character and as more deviant than people without tattoos. College students (Study 1) and community members (Study 2) viewed images of men and women with tattoos or the same images with the tattoos digitally removed and rated the targets' characteristics. Half of the participants viewed a target with a tattoo, and half viewed that target without it, allowing for both within- (participants all rated one male and one female target with a tattoo and another without) and between-participants (participants rated either the tattooed or non-tattooed version of a single target) comparisons. Tattooed targets, especially women, were rated as stronger and more independent, but were rated more negatively on other character attributes than the same target images with the tattoos removed. The stigma associated with tattoos appears to still exist, despite the prevalence of tattoos in modern culture.

Suppression of negative affect in cancer patients. Trauma and defensiveness of self-esteem as predictors of depression and anxiety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fila-Jankowska Aleksandra

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The results of the work show that the relatively small differences in declared, negative emotional states (such as depression or anxiety between people suffering and not suffering from cancer can be explained by the suppression of negative affect in the former. It was assumed that the suppression is related to a compensation of an automatic, affective self-assessment - i.e. implicit self-esteem, lower in cancer patients. The results confirmed that the connection of cancer and depression (similarly cancer and anxiety became significantly stronger while the self-esteem defensiveness and past stress are statistically controlled.

Stronger multilayer acrylic dielectric elastomer actuators with silicone gel coatings

Science.gov (United States)

Lau, Gih-Keong; La, Thanh-Giang; Sheng-Wei Foong, Ervin; Shrestha, Milan

2016-12-01

Multilayer dielectric elastomer actuators (DEA) perform worst off than single-layer DEAs due to higher susceptibility to electro-thermal breakdown. This paper presents a hot-spot model to predict the electro-thermal breakdown field of DEAs and its dependence on thermal insulation. To inhibit the electrothermal breakdown, silicone gel coating was applied as barrier coating to multilayer acrylic DEA. The gel coating helps suppress the electro-thermally induced puncturing of DEA membrane at the hot spot. As a result, the gel-coated DEAs, in either a single layer or a multilayer stack, can produce 30% more isometric stress change as compared to those none-coated. These gel-coated acrylic DEAs show great potential to make stronger artificial muscles.

Learning in clinical practice: Stimulating and discouraging response to social comparison.

Science.gov (United States)

Raat, Janet; Kuks, Jan; Cohen-Schotanus, Janke

2010-01-01

Social comparison theory is relevant for learning in general. In a clinical context, we examined four hypotheses concerning: preferred other to compare with, preferred direction of comparison, response to social comparison and influence of personal social comparison orientation (SCO). To investigate the relevance of social comparison for clinical workplace learning. Students (n = 437) from nine different hospitals completed two questionnaires measuring their SCO and the direction of and response to their comparisons. t-tests were used to analyse the data. Students substantially did compare. They preferred to compare with peer students more than with residents or staff, and with peers doing better more than with peers doing worse. Their response to social comparison was more often stimulating for learning than discouraging. Students high in SCO reported a stronger stimulating and discouraging response to their comparisons than students low in SCO. Social comparison does play a role in clinical workplace learning. The mainly stimulating response to social comparison indicates a positive learning influence. The preferred comparison with peers emphasizes the role of peers in the learning process. Further research should focus on student comparison behaviour and on situations that strengthen the positive effects of social comparison and reduce the negative or obstructing ones.

Family Stress and Parental Responses to Children’s Negative Emotions: Tests of the Spillover, Crossover, and Compensatory Hypotheses

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Nelson, Jackie A.; O’Brien, Marion; Blankson, A. Nayena; Calkins, Susan D.; Keane, Susan P.

2010-01-01

The relations between 4 sources of family stress (marital dissatisfaction, home chaos, parental depressive symptoms, and job role dissatisfaction) and the emotion socialization practice of mothers’ and fathers’ responses to children’s negative emotions were examined. Participants included 101 couples with 7-year-old children. Dyadic analyses were conducted using the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model and relations were tested in terms of the spillover, crossover, and compensatory hypotheses. Results suggest that measures of family stress relate to supportive and nonsupportive parental responses, though many of these relations differ by parent gender. The results are discussed in terms of the 3 theoretical hypotheses, all of which are supported to some degree depending on the family stressor examined. PMID:19803603

Strategy and your stronger hand.

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Geoffrey A

2005-12-01

There are two kinds of businesses in the world, says the author. Knowing what they are--and which one your company is--will guide you to the right strategic moves. One kind includes businesses that compete on a complex-systems model. These companies have large enterprises as their primary customers. They seek to grow a customer base in the thousands, with no more than a handful of transactions per customer per year (indeed, in some years there may be none), and the average price per transaction ranges from six to seven figures. In this model, 1,000 enterprises each paying dollar 1 million per year would generate dollar 1 billion in annual revenue. The other kind of business competes on a volume-operations model. Here, vendors seek to acquire millions of customers, with tens or even hundreds of transactions per customer per year, at an average price of relatively few dollars per transaction. Under this model, it would take 10 million customers each spending dollar 8 per month to generate nearly dollar 1 billion in revenue. An examination of both models shows that they could not be further apart in their approach to every step along the classic value chain. The problem, though, is that companies in one camp often attempt to create new value by venturing into the other. In doing so, they fail to realize how their managerial habits have been shaped by the model they've grown up with. By analogy, they have a "handedness"--the equivalent of a person's right- or left-hand dominance--that makes them as adroit in one mode as they are awkward in the other. Unless you are in an industry whose structure forces you to attempt ambidexterity (in which case, special efforts are required to manage the inevitable dropped balls), you'll be far more successful making moves that favor your stronger hand.

Sleep disruption is related to poor response inhibition in individuals with obsessive-compulsive and repetitive negative thought symptoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Nota, Jacob A; Schubert, Jessica R; Coles, Meredith E

2016-03-01

Obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms and repetitive negative thinking (RNT) are associated with poor inhibitory control. Sleep disruptions may partially mediate these relations and/or act as a "second hit" to individuals with OC symptoms and RNT. Models including habitual (past month) hours slept and bedtimes were tested. We employed a go/no-go task that allowed us to examine the relation between sleep and inhibition with various task contingencies. Sixty-seven unselected individuals were recruited from the participant pool at a public university. Bias-corrected bootstrap estimates did not show that sleep disruption mediated the relation between OC symptoms and response inhibition nor the relation between RNT and response inhibition. Multiple linear regression analyses found significant interactions between hours slept and OC symptom severity and between RNT and hours slept to predict poor response inhibition. Hours slept significantly negatively predicted commission errors when OC symptoms and RNT levels were relatively heightened but not when OC symptoms and RNT levels were relatively low. These effects were present in blocks where task contingencies were designed to shape a no-go bias. No significant relations were found with habitual bedtimes. The cross-sectional study design precludes testing the temporal precedence of symptoms in the "second hit" model. The unselected sample also limits generalization to clinical samples. These findings support a "second hit" model of interaction between sleep disruption and perseverative thoughts and behaviors. Further research on the mechanisms of the relation between sleep disruption and perseverative thought symptoms (OC and RNT) is warranted. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Culture, gender and health care stigma: Practitioners' response to facial masking experienced by people with Parkinson's disease.

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Tickle-Degnen, Linda; Zebrowitz, Leslie A; Ma, Hui-ing

2011-07-01

Facial masking in Parkinson's disease is the reduction of automatic and controlled expressive movement of facial musculature, creating an appearance of apathy, social disengagement or compromised cognitive status. Research in western cultures demonstrates that practitioners form negatively biased impressions associated with patient masking. Socio-cultural norms about facial expressivity vary according to culture and gender, yet little research has studied the effect of these factors on practitioners' responses toward patients who vary in facial expressivity. This study evaluated the effect of masking, culture and gender on practitioners' impressions of patient psychological attributes. Practitioners (N = 284) in the United States and Taiwan judged 12 Caucasian American and 12 Asian Taiwanese women and men patients in video clips from interviews. Half of each patient group had a moderate degree of facial masking and the other half had near-normal expressivity. Practitioners in both countries judged patients with higher masking to be more depressed and less sociable, less socially supportive, and less cognitively competent than patients with lower masking. Practitioners were more biased by masking when judging the sociability of the American patients, and American practitioners' judgments of patient sociability were more negatively biased in response to masking than were those of Taiwanese practitioners. Practitioners were more biased by masking when judging the cognitive competence and social supportiveness of the Taiwanese patients, and Taiwanese practitioners' judgments of patient cognitive competence were more negatively biased in response to masking than were those of American practitioners. The negative response to higher masking was stronger in practitioner judgments of women than men patients, particularly American patients. The findings suggest local cultural values as well as ethnic and gender stereotypes operate on practitioners' use of facial

Neural Correlates of Biased Responses: The Negative Method Effect in the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale Is Associated with Right Amygdala Volume.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yinan; Kong, Feng; Huang, Lijie; Liu, Jia

2016-10-01

Self-esteem is a widely studied construct in psychology that is typically measured by the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). However, a series of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have suggested that a simple and widely used unidimensional factor model does not provide an adequate explanation of RSES responses due to method effects. To identify the neural correlates of the method effect, we sought to determine whether and how method effects were associated with the RSES and investigate the neural basis of these effects. Two hundred and eighty Chinese college students (130 males; mean age = 22.64 years) completed the RSES and underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Behaviorally, method effects were linked to both positively and negatively worded items in the RSES. Neurally, the right amygdala volume negatively correlated with the negative method factor, while the hippocampal volume positively correlated with the general self-esteem factor in the RSES. The neural dissociation between the general self-esteem factor and negative method factor suggests that there are different neural mechanisms underlying them. The amygdala is involved in modulating negative affectivity; therefore, the current study sheds light on the nature of method effects that are related to self-report with a mix of positively and negatively worded items. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Spiders do not evoke greater early posterior negativity in the event-related potential as snakes.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Hongshen; Kubo, Kenta; Kawai, Nobuyuki

2014-09-10

It has been long believed that both snakes and spiders are archetypal fear stimuli for humans. Furthermore, snakes have been assumed as stronger threat cues for nonhuman primates. However, it is still unclear whether spiders hold a special status in human perception. The current study explored to what extent spider pictures draw early visual attention [as assessed with early posterior negativity (EPN)] when compared with insects similar to spiders. To measure the EPN, participants watched a random rapid serial presentation of pictures, which consisted of two conditions: spider condition (spider, wasp, bumblebee, beetle) and snake condition (snake, bird). EPN amplitudes revealed no significant difference between spider, wasp, bumblebee, and beetle pictures, whereas EPN amplitudes were significantly larger for snake pictures relative to bird pictures. In addition, EPN amplitudes were significantly larger for snake pictures relative to spider pictures. These results suggest that the early visual attentional capture of animate objects is stronger for snakes, whereas spiders do not appear to hold special early attentional value.

Factors associated with negative T-SPOT.TB results among smear-negative tuberculosis patients in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Wanli; Wu, Meiying; Yang, Kunyun; Ertai, A; Wu, Shucai; Geng, Shujun; Li, Zhihui; Li, Mingwu; Pang, Yu; Tang, Shenjie

2018-03-09

We compared the positive rates of T-SPOT.TB and bacterial culture in the smear-negative PTB, and analyzed the factors affecting the results of negative T-SPOT.TB and bacterial culture. Retrospective evaluation of data from smear-negative PTB patients who underwent T-SPOT.TB and bacterial culture were done. The agreement and concordance were analyzed between T-SPOT.TB and bacterial culture. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to explore the factors associated with positive results of T-SPOT.TB and bacterial culture in smear-negative PTB. 858 eligible smear-negative PTB patients were included in the study. The agreement rate was 25.6% (22.7~28.5%) between T-SPOT.TB and bacterial culture in smear- negative PTB patients. The positive rate of T-SPOT.TB was higher than that of bacterial culture in smear-negative PTB patients (p SPOT.TB and bacterial culture (p > 0.05). Using multivariable logistic regression analysis we found that older age ≥ 60 years (OR = 0.469, 95% CI: 0.287-0.768) and decreased albumin (OR = 0.614, 95% CI: 0.380-0.992) were associated with negative diagnostic results of T-SPOT.TB in smear-negative PTB patients. Female (OR = 0.654, 95% CI: 0.431-0.992) were associated with negative diagnostic results of bacteria culture in smear-negative PTB patients. Our results indicated that the older age and decreased albumin were independently associated with negative T-SPOT.TB responses.

Fifth-grade children's daily experiences of peer victimization and negative emotions: moderating effects of sex and peer rejection.

Science.gov (United States)

Morrow, Michael T; Hubbard, Julie A; Barhight, Lydia J; Thomson, Amanda K

2014-10-01

This study examined the relations of fifth-grade children's (181 boys and girls) daily experiences of peer victimization with their daily negative emotions. Children completed daily reports of peer victimization and negative emotions (sadness, anger, embarrassment, and nervousness) on up to eight school days. The daily peer victimization checklist was best represented by five factors: physical victimization, verbal victimization, social manipulation, property attacks, and social rebuff. All five types were associated with increased negative daily emotions, and several types were independently linked to increased daily negative emotions, particularly physical victimization. Girls demonstrated greater emotional reactivity in sadness to social manipulation than did boys, and higher levels of peer rejection were linked to greater emotional reactivity to multiple types of victimization. Sex and peer rejection also interacted, such that greater rejection was a stronger indicator of emotional reactivity to victimization in boys than in girls.

Negative emotional stimuli reduce contextual cueing but not response times in inefficient search

OpenAIRE

Kunar, Melina A.; Watson, Derrick G.; Cole, Louise (Researcher in Psychology); Cox, Angeline

2014-01-01

In visual search, previous work has shown that negative stimuli narrow the focus of attention and speed reaction times (RTs). This paper investigates these two effects by first asking whether negative emotional stimuli narrow the focus of attention to reduce the learning of a display context in a contextual cueing task and, second, whether exposure to negative stimuli also reduces RTs in inefficient search tasks. In Experiment 1, participants viewed either negative or neutral images (faces or...

Uncovering the inertia of dislocation motion and negative mechanical response in crystals.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Yizhe

2018-01-09

Dislocations are linear defects in crystals and their motion controls crystals' mechanical behavior. The dissipative nature of dislocation propagation is generally accepted although the specific mechanisms are still not fully understood. The inertia, which is undoubtedly the nature of motion for particles with mass, seems much less convincing for configuration propagation. We utilize atomistic simulations in conditions that minimize dissipative effects to enable uncovering of the hidden nature of dislocation motion, in three typical model metals Mg, Cu and Ta. We find that, with less/no dissipation, dislocation motion is under-damped and explicitly inertial at both low and high velocities. The inertia of dislocation motion is intrinsic, and more fundamental than the dissipative nature. The inertia originates from the kinetic energy imparted from strain energy and stored in the moving core. Peculiar negative mechanical response associated with the inertia is also discovered. These findings shed light on the fundamental nature of dislocation motion, reveal the underlying physics, and provide a new physical explanation for phenomena relevant to high-velocity dislocations.

Mothers' power assertion; children's negative, adversarial orientation; and future behavior problems in low-income families: early maternal responsiveness as a moderator of the developmental cascade.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Sanghag; Kochanska, Grazyna

2015-02-01

Parental power assertion, a key dimension of family environment, generally sets in motion detrimental developmental cascades; however, evidence suggests that other qualities of parenting, such as responsiveness, can significantly moderate those processes. Mechanisms that account for such moderating effects are not fully understood. We propose a conceptual model of processes linking parental power assertion, parental responsiveness, children's negative, adversarial, rejecting orientation toward the parent, and behavior problems. We test that model in a short-term longitudinal design involving 186 low-income, ethnically diverse mothers and their toddlers. When children were 30 months, the dyads were observed in multiple, lengthy, naturalistic laboratory interactions to assess behaviorally mothers' responsiveness and their power-assertive control style. At 33 months, we observed behavioral indicators of children's negative, adversarial, rejecting orientation toward the mothers in several naturalistic and standardized paradigms. At 40 months, mothers rated children's behavior problems. The proposed moderated mediation sequence, tested using a new approach, PROCESS (Hayes, 2013), was supported. The indirect effect from maternal power assertion to children's negative, adversarial orientation to future behavior problems was present when mothers' responsiveness was either low or average but absent when mothers were highly responsive. This study elucidates a potential process that may link parental power assertion with behavior problems and highlights how positive aspects of parenting can moderate this process and defuse maladaptive developmental cascades. It also suggests possible targets for parenting intervention and prevention efforts. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

Lysophosphatidic acid receptor-5 negatively regulates cellular responses in mouse fibroblast 3T3 cells

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Dong, Yan; Hirane, Miku; Araki, Mutsumi [Division of Cancer Biology and Bioinformatics, Department of Life Science, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Kinki University, 3-4-1, Kowakae, Higashiosaka, Osaka 577-8502 (Japan); Fukushima, Nobuyuki [Division of Molecular Neurobiology, Department of Life Science, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Kinki University, 3-4-1, Kowakae, Higashiosaka, Osaka 577-8502 (Japan); Tsujiuchi, Toshifumi, E-mail: ttujiuch@life.kindai.ac.jp [Division of Cancer Biology and Bioinformatics, Department of Life Science, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Kinki University, 3-4-1, Kowakae, Higashiosaka, Osaka 577-8502 (Japan)

2014-04-04

Highlights: • LPA{sub 5} inhibits the cell growth and motile activities of 3T3 cells. • LPA{sub 5} suppresses the cell motile activities stimulated by hydrogen peroxide in 3T3 cells. • Enhancement of LPA{sub 5} on the cell motile activities inhibited by LPA{sub 1} in 3T3 cells. • The expression and activation of Mmp-9 were inhibited by LPA{sub 5} in 3T3 cells. • LPA signaling via LPA{sub 5} acts as a negative regulator of cellular responses in 3T3 cells. - Abstract: Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) signaling via G protein-coupled LPA receptors (LPA{sub 1}–LPA{sub 6}) mediates a variety of biological functions, including cell migration. Recently, we have reported that LPA{sub 1} inhibited the cell motile activities of mouse fibroblast 3T3 cells. In the present study, to evaluate a role of LPA{sub 5} in cellular responses, Lpar5 knockdown (3T3-L5) cells were generated from 3T3 cells. In cell proliferation assays, LPA markedly stimulated the cell proliferation activities of 3T3-L5 cells, compared with control cells. In cell motility assays with Cell Culture Inserts, the cell motile activities of 3T3-L5 cells were significantly higher than those of control cells. The activity levels of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) were measured by gelatin zymography. 3T3-L5 cells stimulated the activation of Mmp-2, correlating with the expression levels of Mmp-2 gene. Moreover, to assess the co-effects of LPA{sub 1} and LPA{sub 5} on cell motile activities, Lpar5 knockdown (3T3a1-L5) cells were also established from Lpar1 over-expressing (3T3a1) cells. 3T3a1-L5 cells increased the cell motile activities of 3T3a1 cells, while the cell motile activities of 3T3a1 cells were significantly lower than those of control cells. These results suggest that LPA{sub 5} may act as a negative regulator of cellular responses in mouse fibroblast 3T3 cells, similar to the case for LPA{sub 1}.

Lysophosphatidic acid receptor-5 negatively regulates cellular responses in mouse fibroblast 3T3 cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dong, Yan; Hirane, Miku; Araki, Mutsumi; Fukushima, Nobuyuki; Tsujiuchi, Toshifumi

2014-01-01

Highlights: • LPA 5 inhibits the cell growth and motile activities of 3T3 cells. • LPA 5 suppresses the cell motile activities stimulated by hydrogen peroxide in 3T3 cells. • Enhancement of LPA 5 on the cell motile activities inhibited by LPA 1 in 3T3 cells. • The expression and activation of Mmp-9 were inhibited by LPA 5 in 3T3 cells. • LPA signaling via LPA 5 acts as a negative regulator of cellular responses in 3T3 cells. - Abstract: Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) signaling via G protein-coupled LPA receptors (LPA 1 –LPA 6 ) mediates a variety of biological functions, including cell migration. Recently, we have reported that LPA 1 inhibited the cell motile activities of mouse fibroblast 3T3 cells. In the present study, to evaluate a role of LPA 5 in cellular responses, Lpar5 knockdown (3T3-L5) cells were generated from 3T3 cells. In cell proliferation assays, LPA markedly stimulated the cell proliferation activities of 3T3-L5 cells, compared with control cells. In cell motility assays with Cell Culture Inserts, the cell motile activities of 3T3-L5 cells were significantly higher than those of control cells. The activity levels of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) were measured by gelatin zymography. 3T3-L5 cells stimulated the activation of Mmp-2, correlating with the expression levels of Mmp-2 gene. Moreover, to assess the co-effects of LPA 1 and LPA 5 on cell motile activities, Lpar5 knockdown (3T3a1-L5) cells were also established from Lpar1 over-expressing (3T3a1) cells. 3T3a1-L5 cells increased the cell motile activities of 3T3a1 cells, while the cell motile activities of 3T3a1 cells were significantly lower than those of control cells. These results suggest that LPA 5 may act as a negative regulator of cellular responses in mouse fibroblast 3T3 cells, similar to the case for LPA 1

Solitary Alcohol Use in Teens Is Associated With Drinking in Response to Negative Affect and Predicts Alcohol Problems in Young Adulthood.

Science.gov (United States)

Creswell, Kasey G; Chung, Tammy; Clark, Duncan B; Martin, Christopher S

2014-09-01

Adolescent solitary drinking may represent an informative divergence from normative behavior, with important implications for understanding risk for alcohol-use disorders later in life. Within a self-medication framework, we hypothesized that solitary alcohol use would be associated with drinking in response to negative affect and that such a pattern of drinking would predict alcohol problems in young adulthood. We tested these predictions in a longitudinal study in which we examined whether solitary drinking in adolescence (ages 12-18) predicted alcohol-use disorders in young adulthood (age 25) in 466 alcohol-using teens recruited from clinical programs and 243 alcohol-using teens recruited from the community. Findings showed that solitary drinking was associated with drinking in response to negative affect during adolescence and predicted alcohol problems in young adulthood. Results indicate that drinking alone is an important type of alcohol-use behavior that increases risk for the escalation of alcohol use and the development of alcohol problems.

Energy distribution extraction of negative charges responsible for positive bias temperature instability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ren Shang-Qing; Yang Hong; Wang Wen-Wu; Tang Bo; Tang Zhao-Yun; Wang Xiao-Lei; Xu Hao; Luo Wei-Chun; Zhao Chao; Yan Jiang; Chen Da-Peng; Ye Tian-Chun

2015-01-01

A new method is proposed to extract the energy distribution of negative charges, which results from electron trapping by traps in the gate stack of nMOSFET during positive bias temperature instability (PBTI) stress based on the recovery measurement. In our case, the extracted energy distribution of negative charges shows an obvious dependence on energy, and the energy level of the largest energy density of negative charges is 0.01 eV above the conduction band of silicon. The charge energy distribution below that energy level shows strong dependence on the stress voltage. (paper)

Influence of incoherent scattering on stochastic deflection of high-energy negative particle beams in bent crystals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kirillin, I.V. [Akhiezer Institute for Theoretical Physics, National Science Center ' ' Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology' ' , Kharkov (Ukraine); Shul' ga, N.F. [Akhiezer Institute for Theoretical Physics, National Science Center ' ' Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology' ' , Kharkov (Ukraine); V.N. Karazin Kharkov National University, Kharkov (Ukraine); Bandiera, L. [INFN Sezione di Ferrara, Ferrara (Italy); Guidi, V.; Mazzolari, A. [INFN Sezione di Ferrara, Ferrara (Italy); Universita degli Studi di Ferrara, Dipartimento di Fisica e Scienze della Terra, Ferrara (Italy)

2017-02-15

An investigation on stochastic deflection of high-energy negatively charged particles in a bent crystal was carried out. On the basis of analytical calculation and numerical simulation it was shown that there is a maximum angle at which most of the beam is deflected. The existence of a maximum, which is taken in the correspondence of the optimal radius of curvature, is a novelty with respect to the case of positively charged particles, for which the deflection angle can be freely increased by increasing the crystal length. This difference has to be ascribed to the stronger contribution of incoherent scattering affecting the dynamics of negative particles that move closer to atomic nuclei and electrons. We therefore identified the ideal parameters for the exploitation of axial confinement for negatively charged particle beam manipulation in future high-energy accelerators, e.g., ILC or muon colliders. (orig.)

Will I regret it? Anticipated negative emotions modulate choices in moral dilemmas

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Carolina Pletti

2016-12-01

Full Text Available We tested if post-decisional emotions of regret, guilt, shame, anger, and disgust can account for individuals’ choices in moral dilemmas depicting the choice of letting some people die (non-utilitarian option or sacrificing one person to save them (utilitarian option. We collected participants’ choices and post-decisional emotional ratings for each option using Footbridge-type dilemmas, in which the sacrifice of one person is the means to save more people, and Trolley-type dilemmas, in which the sacrifice is only a side effect. Moreover, we computed the EEG Readiness Potential to test if the neural activity related to the last phase of decision-making was related to the emotional conflict. Participants reported generally stronger emotions for the utilitarian as compared to the non-utilitarian options, with the exception of anger and regret, which in Trolley-type dilemmas were stronger for the non-utilitarian option. Moreover, participants tended to choose the option that minimized the intensity of negative emotions, irrespective of dilemma type. No significant relationship between emotions and the amplitude of the Readiness Potential emerged. It is possible that anticipated post-decisional emotions play a role in earlier stages of decision-making.

Will I Regret It? Anticipated Negative Emotions Modulate Choices in Moral Dilemmas

Science.gov (United States)

Pletti, Carolina; Lotto, Lorella; Tasso, Alessandra; Sarlo, Michela

2016-01-01

We tested if post-decisional emotions of regret, guilt, shame, anger, and disgust can account for individuals’ choices in moral dilemmas depicting the choice of letting some people die (non-utilitarian option) or sacrificing one person to save them (utilitarian option). We collected participants’ choices and post-decisional emotional ratings for each option using Footbridge-type dilemmas, in which the sacrifice of one person is the means to save more people, and Trolley-type dilemmas, in which the sacrifice is only a side effect. Moreover, we computed the EEG Readiness Potential to test if the neural activity related to the last phase of decision-making was related to the emotional conflict. Participants reported generally stronger emotions for the utilitarian as compared to the non-utilitarian options, with the exception of anger and regret, which in Trolley-type dilemmas were stronger for the non-utilitarian option. Moreover, participants tended to choose the option that minimized the intensity of negative emotions, irrespective of dilemma type. No significant relationship between emotions and the amplitude of the Readiness Potential emerged. It is possible that anticipated post-decisional emotions play a role in earlier stages of decision-making. PMID:27999559

Social alienation in schizophrenia patients: association with insula responsiveness to facial expressions of disgust.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindner, Christian; Dannlowski, Udo; Walhöfer, Kirsten; Rödiger, Maike; Maisch, Birgit; Bauer, Jochen; Ohrmann, Patricia; Lencer, Rebekka; Zwitserlood, Pienie; Kersting, Anette; Heindel, Walter; Arolt, Volker; Kugel, Harald; Suslow, Thomas

2014-01-01

Among the functional neuroimaging studies on emotional face processing in schizophrenia, few have used paradigms with facial expressions of disgust. In this study, we investigated whether schizophrenia patients show less insula activation to macro-expressions (overt, clearly visible expressions) and micro-expressions (covert, very brief expressions) of disgust than healthy controls. Furthermore, departing from the assumption that disgust faces signal social rejection, we examined whether perceptual sensitivity to disgust is related to social alienation in patients and controls. We hypothesized that high insula responsiveness to facial disgust predicts social alienation. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure insula activation in 36 schizophrenia patients and 40 healthy controls. During scanning, subjects passively viewed covert and overt presentations of disgust and neutral faces. To measure social alienation, a social loneliness scale and an agreeableness scale were administered. Schizophrenia patients exhibited reduced insula activation in response to covert facial expressions of disgust. With respect to macro-expressions of disgust, no between-group differences emerged. In patients, insula responsiveness to covert faces of disgust was positively correlated with social loneliness. Furthermore, patients' insula responsiveness to covert and overt faces of disgust was negatively correlated with agreeableness. In controls, insula responsiveness to covert expressions of disgust correlated negatively with agreeableness. Schizophrenia patients show reduced insula responsiveness to micro-expressions but not macro-expressions of disgust compared to healthy controls. In patients, low agreeableness was associated with stronger insula response to micro- and macro-expressions of disgust. Patients with a strong tendency to feel uncomfortable with social interactions appear to be characterized by a high sensitivity for facial expression signaling social

Why don't you like me? Midfrontal theta power in response to unexpected peer rejection feedback.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Molen, M J W; Dekkers, L M S; Westenberg, P M; van der Veen, F M; van der Molen, M W

2017-02-01

Social connectedness theory posits that the brain processes social rejection as a threat to survival. Recent electrophysiological evidence suggests that midfrontal theta (4-8Hz) oscillations in the EEG provide a window on the processing of social rejection. Here we examined midfrontal theta dynamics (power and inter-trial phase synchrony) during the processing of social evaluative feedback. We employed the Social Judgment paradigm in which 56 undergraduate women (mean age=19.67 years) were asked to communicate their expectancies about being liked vs. disliked by unknown peers. Expectancies were followed by feedback indicating social acceptance vs. rejection. Results revealed a significant increase in EEG theta power to unexpected social rejection feedback. This EEG theta response could be source-localized to brain regions typically reported during activation of the saliency network (i.e., dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, insula, inferior frontal gyrus, frontal pole, and the supplementary motor area). Theta phase dynamics mimicked the behavior of the time-domain averaged feedback-related negativity (FRN) by showing stronger phase synchrony for feedback that was unexpected vs. expected. Theta phase, however, differed from the FRN by also displaying stronger phase synchrony in response to rejection vs. acceptance feedback. Together, this study highlights distinct roles for midfrontal theta power and phase synchrony in response to social evaluative feedback. Our findings contribute to the literature by showing that midfrontal theta oscillatory power is sensitive to social rejection but only when peer rejection is unexpected, and this theta response is governed by a widely distributed neural network implicated in saliency detection and conflict monitoring. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sexual harassment and emotional and behavioural symptoms in adolescence: stronger associations among boys than girls.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaltiala-Heino, Riittakerttu; Fröjd, Sari; Marttunen, Mauri

2016-08-01

To study the associations between subjection to sexual harassment and emotional (depression) and behavioural (delinquency) symptoms among 14-to-18-year-old adolescents, and gender differences within these associations. 90,953 boys and 91,746 girls aged 14-18 participated in the School Health Promotion Study (SHPS), a school-based survey designed to examine the health, health behaviours, and school experiences of teenagers. Experiences of sexual harassment were elicited with five questions addressing five separate forms of harassment. Depression was measured by the 13-item Beck Depression Inventory and delinquency with a modified version of the International Self-Report Delinquency Study (ISRD) instrument. Data were analysed using cross-tabulations with Chi-square statistics and logistic regression. All sexual harassment experiences studied were associated with both depression (adjusted odds ratios varied from 2.2 to 2.7 in girls and from 2.0 to 5.1 in boys) and delinquency (adjusted odds ratios 3.1-5.0 in girls and 1.7-6.9 in boys). Sexual name-calling had a stronger association with depression and with delinquency in girls (adjusted odds ratios, respectively, 2.4 and 4.2), than in boys (adjusted odds ratios, respectively, 2.0 and 1.7), but otherwise stronger associations with emotional and behavioural symptoms were seen in boys. Subjection to sexual harassment is associated with both emotional and behavioural symptoms in both girls and boys. The associations are mostly stronger for boys. Boys subjected to sexual harassment may feel particularly threatened regarding their masculinity, and there may be less support available for boys traumatised due to sexual harassment.

Culture, Gender and Health Care Stigma: Practitioners’ Response to Facial Masking Experienced by People with Parkinson’s Disease

Science.gov (United States)

Tickle-Degnen, Linda; Zebrowitz, Leslie A.; Ma, Hui-ing

2011-01-01

Facial masking in Parkinson’s disease is the reduction of automatic and controlled expressive movement of facial musculature, creating an appearance of apathy, social disengagement or compromised cognitive status. Research in western cultures demonstrates that practitioners form negatively biased impressions associated with patient masking. Socio-cultural norms about facial expressivity vary according to culture and gender, yet little research has studied the effect of these factors on practitioners’ responses toward patients who vary in facial expressivity. This study evaluated the effect of masking, culture and gender on practitioners’ impressions of patient psychological attributes. Practitioners (N=284) in the United States and Taiwan judged 12 Caucasian American and 12 Asian Taiwanese women and men patients in video clips from interviews. Half of each patient group had a moderate degree of facial masking and the other half had near-normal expressivity. Practitioners in both countries judged patients with higher masking to be more depressed and less sociable, less socially supportive, and less cognitively competent than patients with lower masking. Practitioners were more biased by masking when judging the sociability of the American patients, and American practitioners’ judgments of patient sociability were more negatively biased in response to masking than were those of Taiwanese practitioners. Practitioners were more biased by masking when judging the cognitive competence and social supportiveness of the Taiwanese patients, and Taiwanese practitioners’ judgments of patient cognitive competence were more negatively biased in response to masking than were those of American practitioners. The negative response to higher masking was stronger in practitioner judgments of women than men patients, particularly American patients. The findings suggest local cultural values as well as ethnic and gender stereotypes operate on practitioners’ use of facial

Toward the next generation of negative symptom assessments: the collaboration to advance negative symptom assessment in schizophrenia.

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Blanchard, Jack J; Kring, Ann M; Horan, William P; Gur, Raquel

2011-03-01

Negative symptoms in schizophrenia are related to poor functional outcome, persistent over time, a source of burden for caregivers, and only minimally responsive to currently available medications. A major challenge to developing efficacious interventions concerns the valid and reliable assessment of negative symptoms. In a recent consensus statement on negative symptoms, a central recommendation was the need to develop new assessment approaches that address the limitations of existing instruments. In the current report, we summarize the background and rationale for the Collaboration to Advance Negative Symptom Assessment in Schizophrenia (CANSAS). The CANSAS project is an National Institute of Mental Health-funded multisite study that is constructing a next-generation negative symptom scale, the Clinical Assessment Interview for Negative Symptoms (CAINS). The CAINS is being developed within a data-driven iterative process that seeks to ensure the measure's reliability, validity, and utility for both basic psychopathology and treatment development research.

Neural Mechanisms of Cognitive Dissonance (Revised): An EEG Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Colosio, Marco; Shestakova, Anna; Nikulin, Vadim V; Blagovechtchenski, Evgeny; Klucharev, Vasily

2017-05-17

Cognitive dissonance theory suggests that our preferences are modulated by the mere act of choosing. A choice between two similarly valued alternatives creates psychological tension (cognitive dissonance) that is reduced by a postdecisional reevaluation of the alternatives. We measured EEG of human subjects during rest and free-choice paradigm. Our study demonstrates that choices associated with stronger cognitive dissonance trigger a larger negative frontocentral evoked response similar to error-related negativity, which has in turn been implicated in general performance monitoring. Furthermore, the amplitude of the evoked response is correlated with the reevaluation of the alternatives. We also found a link between individual neural dynamics (long-range temporal correlations) of the frontocentral cortices during rest and follow-up neural and behavioral effects of cognitive dissonance. Individuals with stronger resting-state long-range temporal correlations demonstrated a greater postdecisional reevaluation of the alternatives and larger evoked brain responses associated with stronger cognitive dissonance. Thus, our results suggest that cognitive dissonance is reflected in both resting-state and choice-related activity of the prefrontal cortex as part of the general performance-monitoring circuitry. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Contrary to traditional decision theory, behavioral studies repeatedly demonstrate that our preferences are modulated by the mere act of choosing. Difficult choices generate psychological (cognitive) dissonance, which is reduced by the postdecisional devaluation of unchosen options. We found that decisions associated with a higher level of cognitive dissonance elicited a stronger negative frontocentral deflection that peaked ∼60 ms after the response. This activity shares similar spatial and temporal features as error-related negativity, the electrophysiological correlate of performance monitoring. Furthermore, the frontocentral resting

Negative emotional stimuli reduce contextual cueing but not response times in inefficient search.

Science.gov (United States)

Kunar, Melina A; Watson, Derrick G; Cole, Louise; Cox, Angeline

2014-02-01

In visual search, previous work has shown that negative stimuli narrow the focus of attention and speed reaction times (RTs). This paper investigates these two effects by first asking whether negative emotional stimuli narrow the focus of attention to reduce the learning of a display context in a contextual cueing task and, second, whether exposure to negative stimuli also reduces RTs in inefficient search tasks. In Experiment 1, participants viewed either negative or neutral images (faces or scenes) prior to a contextual cueing task. In a typical contextual cueing experiment, RTs are reduced if displays are repeated across the experiment compared with novel displays that are not repeated. The results showed that a smaller contextual cueing effect was obtained after participants viewed negative stimuli than when they viewed neutral stimuli. However, in contrast to previous work, overall search RTs were not faster after viewing negative stimuli (Experiments 2 to 4). The findings are discussed in terms of the impact of emotional content on visual processing and the ability to use scene context to help facilitate search.

bHLH003, bHLH013 and bHLH017 are new targets of JAZ repressors negatively regulating JA responses.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandra Fonseca

Full Text Available Cell reprogramming in response to jasmonates requires a tight control of transcription that is achieved by the activity of JA-related transcription factors (TFs. Among them, MYC2, MYC3 and MYC4 have been described as activators of JA responses. Here we characterized the function of bHLH003, bHLH013 and bHLH017 that conform a phylogenetic clade closely related to MYC2, MYC3 and MYC4. We found that these bHLHs form homo- and heterodimers and also interact with JAZ repressors in vitro and in vivo. Phenotypic analysis of JA-regulated processes, including root and rosette growth, anthocyanin accumulation, chlorophyll loss and resistance to Pseudomonas syringae, on mutants and overexpression lines, suggested that these bHLHs are repressors of JA responses. bHLH003, bHLH013 and bHLH017 are mainly nuclear proteins and bind DNA with similar specificity to that of MYC2, MYC3 and MYC4, but lack a conserved activation domain, suggesting that repression is achieved by competition for the same cis-regulatory elements. Moreover, expression of bHLH017 is induced by JA and depends on MYC2, suggesting a negative feed-back regulation of the activity of positive JA-related TFs. Our results suggest that the competition between positive and negative TFs determines the output of JA-dependent transcriptional activation.

Detection of negative energy: 4-dimensional examples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davies, P.C.W.; Ottewill, Adrian C.

2002-01-01

We study the response of switched particle detectors to static negative energy densities and negative energy fluxes. It is demonstrated how the switching leads to excitation even in the vacuum and how negative energy can lead to a suppression of this excitation. We obtain quantum inequalities on the detection similar to those obtained for the energy density by Ford and co-workers and in an 'operational' context by Helfer. We reexamine the question 'Is there a quantum equivalence principle?' in terms of our model. Finally, we briefly address the issue of negative energy and the second law of thermodynamics

Blunted neuroactive steroid and HPA axis responses to stress are associated with reduced sleep quality and negative affect in pregnancy: a pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Crowley, Shannon K; O'Buckley, Todd K; Schiller, Crystal E; Stuebe, Alison; Morrow, A Leslie; Girdler, Susan S

2016-04-01

Anxiety during pregnancy has been linked to adverse maternal health outcomes, including postpartum depression (PPD). However, there has been limited study of biological mechanisms underlying behavioral predictors of PPD during pregnancy. Considering the shared etiology of chronic stress amongst antenatal behavioral predictors, the primary goal of this pilot study was to examine associations among stress-related physiological factors (including GABA-ergic neurosteroids) and stress-related behavioral indices of anxiety during pregnancy. Fourteen nulliparous women in their second trimester of a singleton pregnancy underwent speech and mental arithmetic stress, following a 2-week subjective and objective recording of sleep-wake behavior. Lower cortisol, progesterone, and a combined measure of ALLO + pregnanolone throughout the entire stressor protocol (area under the curve, AUC) were associated with greater negative emotional responses to stress, and lower cortisol AUC was associated with worse sleep quality. Lower adrenocorticotropic hormone was associated with greater anxious and depressive symptoms. Stress produced paradoxical reductions in cortisol, progesterone, and a combined measure of allopregnanolone + pregnanolone, while tetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone levels were elevated. These data suggest that cortisol, progesterone, and ALLO + pregnanolone levels in the second trimester of pregnancy are inversely related to negative emotional symptoms, and the negative impact of acute stress challenge appears to exert its effects by reducing these steroids to further promote negative emotional responses.

Facial expression primes and implicit regulation of negative emotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoon, HeungSik; Kim, Shin Ah; Kim, Sang Hee

2015-06-17

An individual's responses to emotional information are influenced not only by the emotional quality of the information, but also by the context in which the information is presented. We hypothesized that facial expressions of happiness and anger would serve as primes to modulate subjective and neural responses to subsequently presented negative information. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a functional MRI study in which the brains of healthy adults were scanned while they performed an emotion-rating task. During the task, participants viewed a series of negative and neutral photos, one at a time; each photo was presented after a picture showing a face expressing a happy, angry, or neutral emotion. Brain imaging results showed that compared with neutral primes, happy facial primes increased activation during negative emotion in the dorsal anterior cingulated cortex and the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, which are typically implicated in conflict detection and implicit emotion control, respectively. Conversely, relative to neutral primes, angry primes activated the right middle temporal gyrus and the left supramarginal gyrus during the experience of negative emotion. Activity in the amygdala in response to negative emotion was marginally reduced after exposure to happy primes compared with angry primes. Relative to neutral primes, angry facial primes increased the subjectively experienced intensity of negative emotion. The current study results suggest that prior exposure to facial expressions of emotions modulates the subsequent experience of negative emotion by implicitly activating the emotion-regulation system.

Differential Effects of Positive versus Negative Self-Involving Counselor Responses.

Science.gov (United States)

Remer, Pam; And Others

1983-01-01

Investigated the effects of positive and negative counselor disclosure using typescripts of hypothetical counseling interviews. Results indicated impact of condition was mixed, with each having some desirable effects. (PAS)

One Year After Fukushima, Nuclear Safety Is Stronger

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2012-01-01

Full text: Nuclear power is safer than it was a year ago as the nuclear industry, regulators and governments act on the lessons of Fukushima, but that safety must never be taken for granted, said Yukiya Amano, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Speaking ahead of the first anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident on 11 March, Amano said a culture of constant vigilance and improvement was vital to ensure that the benefits of nuclear power could be harnessed as safely as humanly possible. 'Nuclear safety is stronger than it was a year ago', he said. 'Fukushima Daiichi was a very serious accident, but we know what went wrong and we have a clear course of action to tackle those causes - not only in Japan, but anywhere in the world. 'Now we have to keep up the momentum. Complacency can kill'. On 11 March 2011 a huge earthquake and tsunami left more than 20 000 people dead or missing in eastern Japan. Amidst widespread destruction, the tsunami slammed into the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, disabling cooling systems and leading to fuel meltdowns in three of the six Units. The accident was a jolt to the nuclear industry, regulators and governments. It was triggered by a massive force of nature, but it was existing weaknesses of design regarding defence against natural hazards, regulatory oversight, accident management and emergency response that allowed it to unfold as it did. For example: The nuclear regulator was not sufficiently independent, allowing weak oversight of the operator, TEPCO, and regulatory requirements fell short of international best practice; Not enough attention was paid to guarding against possible extreme events at the Fukushima Daiichi site, leaving critical safety functions such as cooling systems vulnerable to the tsunami; Training to respond to serious accidents was inadequate, as were mitigation measures to prevent hydrogen explosions and protect the venting system; and Accident command lines

Corrugator Activity Confirms Immediate Negative Affect in Surprise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sascha eTopolinski

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The emotion of surprise entails a complex of immediate responses, such as cognitive interruption, attention allocation to, and more systematic processing of the surprising stimulus. All these processes serve the ultimate function to increase processing depth and thus cognitively master the surprising stimulus. The present account introduces phasic negative affect as the underlying mechanism responsible for these consequences. Surprising stimuli are schema-discrepant and thus entail cognitive disfluency, which elicits immediate negative affect. This affect in turn works like a phasic cognitive tuning switching the current processing mode from more automatic and heuristic to more systematic and reflective processing. Directly testing the initial elicitation of negative affect by suprising events, the present experiment presented high and low surprising neutral trivia statements to N = 28 participants while assessing their spontaneous facial expressions via facial electromyography. High compared to low suprising trivia elicited higher corrugator activity, indicative of negative affect and mental effort, while leaving zygomaticus (positive affect and frontalis (cultural surprise expression activity unaffected. Future research shall investigate the mediating role of negative affect in eliciting surprise-related outcomes.

Negative social comparisons and psychosis proneness in a healthy adolescent population.

Science.gov (United States)

Cotier, F A; Toulopoulou, T

2017-10-01

There is growing evidence of an association between negative social comparisons (NSC) and both psychosis, and psychosis proneness. The majority of the work thus far, however, has focused largely on one type of NSC, namely, social rank. Whilst social rank is clearly an important factor, an individual's perception of belonging is likely also of importance; particularly, when considering individuals from collectivistic cultures such as China, where greater emphasis is placed on fitting into the group. There is also limited research investigating what factors may contribute towards the relationship between NSC and psychosis proneness, and to what extent this relationship may be due to common familial factors. To address these issues, we examined whether (1) Social rank and perceived belonging predict negative, positive and depressive psychotic experiences in a Chinese, adolescent, twin and sibling population, (2) coping styles moderate the impact of these relationships and (3), there is a familial association between NSC and psychosis proneness. Both social rank and perceived belonging were found to predict the negative and depressive dimensions of psychosis. These relationships were moderated by problem-focused coping styles. Interestingly, the association between perception of belonging, and negative psychotic experiences was familial-and stronger in Monozygotic twins-indicating perhaps shared aetiology due to common genes. Our findings highlight NSC as potential vulnerability markers for negative and depressive psychotic experiences, and suggest potentially different aetiological pathways amongst different NSC and different psychotic experiences. On a clinical level, our findings emphasize the need to consider coping styles when treating at-risk individuals. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Coping as a mediator of the relationship between stress mindset and psychological stress response: a pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Horiuchi, Satoshi; Tsuda, Akira; Aoki, Shuntaro; Yoneda, Kenichiro; Sawaguchi, Yusuke

2018-01-01

Coping, the cognitive and behavioral effort required to manage the effects of stressors, is important in determining psychological stress responses (ie, the emotional, behavioral, and cognitive responses to stressors). Coping was classified into categories of emotional expression (eg, negative feelings and thoughts), emotional support seeking (eg, approaching loved ones to request encouragement), cognitive reinterpretation (eg, reframing a problem positively), and problem solving (eg, working to solve the problem). Stress mindset refers to the belief that stress has enhancing (stress-is-enhancing mindset) or debilitating consequences (stress-is-debilitating mindset). This study examined whether coping mediated the relationship between stress mindset and psychological stress responses. Psychological stress responses were conceptualized as depression-anxiety, irritability-anger, and helplessness. The following two hypotheses were tested: 1) a stronger stress-is-enhancing mindset is associated with less frequent use of emotional expression, emotional support seeking, and problem solving, which in turn is associated with lower levels of depression-anxiety, irritability-anger, and helplessness; 2) a stronger stress-is-debilitating mindset is associated with more frequent use of these coping strategies, which in turn is associated with higher levels of these psychological stress responses. The participants were 30 male and 94 female undergraduate and graduate students (mean age =20.4 years). Stress mindset, coping, and psychological stress responses were measured using self-report questionnaires. Six mediation analyses were performed with stress-is-enhancing mindset or stress-is-debilitating mindset as the independent variable, one of the psychological stress responses as the dependent variable, and the four coping strategies as mediators. Emotional expression partially mediated the relationship between a strong stress-is-debilitating mindset and higher irritability

BRUTUS and its paralogs, BTS LIKE1 and BTS LIKE2, encode important negative regulators of the iron deficiency response in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Science.gov (United States)

Hindt, Maria N; Akmakjian, Garo Z; Pivarski, Kara L; Punshon, Tracy; Baxter, Ivan; Salt, David E; Guerinot, Mary Lou

2017-07-19

Iron (Fe) is required for plant health, but it can also be toxic when present in excess. Therefore, Fe levels must be tightly controlled. The Arabidopsis thaliana E3 ligase BRUTUS (BTS) is involved in the negative regulation of the Fe deficiency response and we show here that the two A. thaliana BTS paralogs, BTS LIKE1 (BTSL1) and BTS LIKE2 (BTSL2) encode proteins that act redundantly as negative regulators of the Fe deficiency response. Loss of both of these E3 ligases enhances tolerance to Fe deficiency. We further generated a triple mutant with loss of both BTS paralogs and a partial loss of BTS expression that exhibits even greater tolerance to Fe-deficient conditions and increased Fe accumulation without any resulting Fe toxicity effects. Finally, we identified a mutant carrying a novel missense mutation of BTS that exhibits an Fe deficiency response in the root when grown under both Fe-deficient and Fe-sufficient conditions, leading to Fe toxicity when plants are grown under Fe-sufficient conditions.

How Harmonious and Obsessive Passion for Alcohol and Marijuana Relate to Consumption and Negative Consequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Steers, Mai-Ly N; Neighbors, Clayton; Hove, M Christina; Olson, Nichole; Lee, Christine M

2015-09-01

Although the concepts of harmonious and obsessive passion have been productive in explaining why people eagerly engage in such activities as sports, Internet use, and gambling, previous research has not yet extended these models to explain alcohol and marijuana use among college students. The current research was conducted to clarify the relationships among harmonious and obsessive passion, alcohol and marijuana use, and negative consequences. Two studies were conducted using online assessments. In Study 1, 748 heavy drinking college students (58% female) were recruited and completed measures of passion for drinking alcohol, alcohol use, and alcohol-related negative consequences. In Study 2, 352 regular marijuana-using students (54% female) were recruited and completed assessments of marijuana passion, marijuana use, and marijuana-related consequences. Study 1 found that among heavy drinking college students, harmonious passion was a stronger predictor of increased consumption than was obsessive passion, whereas obsessive passion was a stronger predictor of alcohol-related problems than was harmonious passion. Study 2 revealed similar findings with regard to harmonious passion predicting marijuana consumption; however, unlike Study 1, no significant difference between the passions was found in predicting marijuana-related problems. This research provides a novel perspective on motivation for alcohol and marijuana use. Findings suggest that understanding the locus of young adults' passion for substance use may be helpful in identifying those who are likely to develop a substance use disorder and therefore may be the most in need of assistance and intervention.

If you negate, you may forget: negated repetitions impair memory compared with affirmative repetitions.

Science.gov (United States)

Mayo, Ruth; Schul, Yaacov; Rosenthal, Meytal

2014-08-01

One of the most robust laws of memory is that repeated activation improves memory. Our study shows that the nature of repetition matters. Specifically, although both negated repetition and affirmative repetition improve memory compared with no repetition, negated repetition hinders memory compared with affirmative repetition. After showing participants different entities, we asked them about features of these entities, leading to either "yes" or "no" responses. Our findings show that correctly negating an incorrect feature of an entity elicits an active forgetting effect compared with correctly affirming its true features. For example, after seeing someone drink a glass of white wine, answering "no" to "was it red wine?" may lead one to greater memory loss of the individual drinking wine at all compared with answering "yes" to "was it white wine?" We find this negation-induced forgetting effect in 4 experiments that differ in (a) the meaning given for the negation, (b) the type of stimuli (visual or verbal), and (c) the memory measure (recognition or free recall). We discuss possible underlying mechanisms and offer theoretical and applied implications of the negation-induced forgetting effect in relation to other known inhibition effects. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Mothers’ Power Assertion, Children’s Negative, Adversarial Orientation, and Future Behavior Problems in Low-Income Families: Early Maternal Responsiveness as a Moderator of the Developmental Cascade

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Sanghag; Kochanska, Grazyna

2014-01-01

Parental power assertion, a key dimension of family environment, generally sets in motion detrimental developmental cascades; however, evidence suggests that other qualities of parenting, such as responsiveness, can significantly moderate those processes. Mechanisms that account for such moderating effects are not fully understood. We propose a conceptual model of processes linking parental power assertion, parental responsiveness, children’s negative, adversarial, rejecting orientation toward the parent, and behavior problems. We test that model in a short-term longitudinal design involving 186 low-income, ethnically diverse mothers and their toddlers. When children were 30 months, the dyads were observed in multiple, lengthy, naturalistic laboratory interactions to assess behaviorally mothers’ responsiveness and their power-assertive control style. At 33 months, we observed behavioral indicators of children’s negative, adversarial, rejecting orientation toward the mothers in several naturalistic and standardized paradigms. At 40 months, mothers rated children’s behavior problems. The proposed moderated mediation sequence, tested using a new approach, PROCESS (Hayes, 2013), was supported. The indirect effect from maternal power assertion to children’s negative, adversarial orientation to future behavior problems was present when mothers’ responsiveness was either low or average but absent when mothers were highly responsive. This study elucidates a potential process that may link parental power assertion with behavior problems and highlights how positive aspects of parenting can moderate this process and defuse maladaptive developmental cascades. It also suggests possible targets for parenting intervention and prevention efforts. PMID:25401483

E2A-positive gastric MALT lymphoma has weaker plasmacytoid infiltrates and stronger expression of the memory B-cell-associated miR-223: possible correlation with stage and treatment response.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Ting-Yun; Chen, Shee-Uan; Kuo, Sung-Hsin; Cheng, Ann-Lii; Lin, Chung-Wu

2010-11-01

Extranodal marginal-zone lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue of the stomach (gastric MALT lymphoma) is derived from memory B cells of the marginal zone. Normal memory B cells do not express markers of germinal-center B cells, such as E2A (immunoglobulin enhancer-binding factor E12/E47), B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia/lymphoma 6 (BCL6), or activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID). E2A is a transcription factor that induces somatic hypermutations and blocks plasma cell differentiation. In 50 stage-I(E)/II(E1) gastric MALT lymphomas, we confirmed that all cases were BCL6(-)/AID(-), but a subset (50%, 25/50) was E2A(+). As E2A(-) and E2A(+) gastric MALT lymphomas had similar numbers of somatic hypermutations without intraclonal variations, which implied an origin from memory B cells, the expression of E2A was best regarded as a marker of aberrant follicular differentiation. Although the status of somatic hypermutation was not affected by E2A, E2A(+) gastric MALT lymphoma showed less plasmacytoid infiltrates and higher expressions of miRNA-223, a microRNA associated with memory B cells. Clinically, E2A(+) gastric MALT lymphomas were more likely to spread to perigastric lymph nodes and were less responsive to Helicobacter eradication therapy than were E2A(-) gastric MALT lymphomas. Taken together, aberrant E2A expression is a diagnostic feature of a subtype of gastric MALT lymphoma with weaker plasmacytoid infiltrates and stronger miR-223 expression. A prospective study would be necessary to verify the association between E2A expression and a poor response to Helicobacter eradication therapy.

The moderating effects of aging and cognitive abilities on the association between work stress and negative affect.

Science.gov (United States)

Hyun, Jinshil; Sliwinski, Martin J; Almeida, David M; Smyth, Joshua M; Scott, Stacey B

2018-05-01

Given that the association between work stress and negative affect can exacerbate negative health and workplace outcomes, it is important to identify the protective and risk factors that moderate this association. Socioemotional aging and cognitive abilities might influence how people utilize emotion regulation skills and engage in practical problem solving to manage their work stress. The aim of this study is to examine whether age and cognitive abilities independently and interactively moderate the association between work-related stress and negative affect. A diverse working adult sample (N = 139, age 25-65, 69% of females) completed a cross-sectional survey that assessed chronic work stress, negative affect, and fluid and crystallized cognitive abilities. Results from regression analyses suggested that both fluid and crystallized cognitive abilities, but not age, moderated the association between work stress and negative affect. Further, we found that crystallized cognition had a stronger attenuating effect on the work stress-negative affect association for older compared to younger workers. The moderating effect of fluid cognition was invariant across age. Our findings demonstrate that cognitive abilities are an important personal resource that might protect individuals against the negative impacts of work stress and negative affect. Although the role that fluid cognition plays in work stress-negative affect association is comparably important for both younger and older workers, crystallized cognition might play a more valuable role for older than younger workers.

A serotonin transporter gene polymorphism (5-HTTLPR), drinking-to-cope motivation, and negative life events among college students.

Science.gov (United States)

Armeli, Stephen; Conner, Tamlin S; Covault, Jonathan; Tennen, Howard; Kranzler, Henry R

2008-11-01

This study was performed to examine whether a polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) in the serotonin transporter gene was related to college students' reports of relief drinking (drinking-to-cope motives) and whether it moderated the associations between negative life events and drinking to cope. We examined reward drinking (drinking-to-enhance motives) as a comparison and to see whether these effects varied across gender. Using an Internet-based survey, college students (N = 360; 192 women) self-reported on drinking motives and negative life events for up to 4 years. Study participants provided saliva for genotyping the triallelic (LA vs LG or S) variants of 5-HTTLPR. Among men, individuals with two risk alleles (LG or S), compared with individuals with the LA/LA allele, displayed lower drinking-to-cope motives. Among women, individuals with one risk allele (either LG or S), compared with individuals with the LA/LA allele, displayed stronger drinking-to-enhance motives. The association between yearly changes in negative life events and drinking-to-cope motives varied across 5-HTTLPR genotype and gender and was strongest in the positive direction for women with the LA/LA variant. Our findings are not consistent with prior speculation that stronger positive associations between life stress and alcohol use among individuals with the LG or S allele are the result of increased use of alcohol as a method for coping with stress. The importance of examining gender differences in the relations between 5-HTTLPR, substance use, and related constructs is also noted.

Response Expectancy and the Placebo Effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Kirsch, Irving

2018-01-01

In this chapter, I review basic tenets of response expectancy theory (Kirsch, 1985), beginning with the important distinction between response expectancies and stimulus expectancies. Although both can affect experience, the effects of response expectancies are stronger and more resistant to extinction than those of stimulus expectancies. Further, response expectancies are especially important to understanding placebo effects. The response expectancy framework is consistent with and has been amplified by the Bayesian model of predictive coding. Clinical implications of these phenomena are exemplified. © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Negative pragmatic transfer in Chinese students' complimentary speech acts.

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Juanjuan; Gao, Xiaofang

2012-02-01

Summary.-This study was designed to examine negative pragmatic transfer of the speech act of English compliments by Chinese who learn English as a foreign language and to estimate the correlation between the amount of negative pragmatic transfer and English proficiency of the Chinese learners. Frequencies of students' performance showed that both in the favored compliments and the response strategies, differences were evident between Chinese English learners and native English speakers. This indicated that Chinese learners had trouble with the "slang" or "idioms" of the target language and tended to transfer negatively their L1 pragmatic norms to their L2 communication. Moreover, the favored compliment response strategies used by two groups of Chinese learners--who had different levels of English proficiency--differed, and negative pragmatic transfer decreased as proficiency in English increased.

When negation is not negation

OpenAIRE

Milicevic, Nataša

2008-01-01

In this paper I will discuss the formation of different types of yes/no questions in Serbian (examples in (1)), focusing on the syntactically and semantically puzzling example (1d), which involves the negative auxiliary inversion. Although there is a negative marker on the fronted auxiliary, the construction does not involve sentential negation. This coincides with the fact that the negative quantifying NPIs cannot be licensed. The question formation and sentential negation have similar synta...

FACTOR STRUCTURE OF THE BRIEF NEGATIVE SYMPTOM SCALE

OpenAIRE

Strauss, Gregory P.; Hong, L. Elliot; Gold, James M.; Buchanan, Robert W.; McMahon, Robert P.; Keller, William R.; Fischer, Bernard A.; Catalano, Lauren T.; Culbreth, Adam J.; Carpenter, William T.; Kirkpatrick, Brian

2012-01-01

The current study examined the factor structure of the Brief Negative Symptom Scale (BNSS), a next-generation negative symptom rating instrument developed in response to the NIMH-sponsored Consensus Development Conference on Negative Symptoms. Participants included 146 individuals with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Principal axis factoring indicated two distinct factors explaining 68.7% of the variance. Similar to previous findings, the factors reflected mot...

The word concreteness effect occurs for positive, but not negative, emotion words in immediate serial recall.

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Tse, Chi-Shing; Altarriba, Jeanette

2009-02-01

The present study examined the roles of word concreteness and word valence in the immediate serial recall task. Emotion words (e.g. happy) were used to investigate these effects. Participants completed study-test trials with seven-item study lists consisting of positive or negative words with either high or low concreteness (Experiments 1 and 2) and neutral (i.e. non-emotion) words with either high or low concreteness (Experiment 2). For neutral words, the typical word concreteness effect (concrete words are better recalled than abstract words) was replicated. For emotion words, the effect occurred for positive words, but not for negative words. While the word concreteness effect was stronger for neutral words than for negative words, it was not different for the neutral words and the positive words. We conclude that both word valence and word concreteness simultaneously contribute to the item and order retention of emotion words and discuss how Hulme et al.'s (1997) item redintegration account can be modified to explain these findings.

The effect of blood volume loss on cardiovascular response to lower body negative pressure using a mathematical model

Science.gov (United States)

Karam, E. H.; Srinivasan, R. S.; Charles, J. B.; Fortney, S. M.

1994-01-01

Different mathematical models of varying complexity have been proposed in recent years to study the cardiovascular (CV) system. However, only a few of them specifically address the response to lower body negative pressure (LBNP), a stress that can be applied in weightlessness to predict changes in orthostatic tolerance. Also, the simulated results produced by these models agree only partially with experimental observations. In contrast, the model proposed by Melchior et al., and modified by Karam et al. is a simple representation of the CV system capable of accurately reproducing observed LBNP responses up to presyncopal levels. There are significant changes in LBNP response due to a loss of blood volume and other alterations that occur in weightlessness and related one-g conditions such as bedrest. A few days of bedrest can cause up to 15% blood volume loss (BVL), with consequent decreases in both stroke volume and cardiac output, and increases in heart rate, mean arterial pressure, and total peripheral resistance. These changes are more pronounced at higher levels of LBNP. This paper presents the results of a simulation study using our CV model to examine the effect of BVL on LBNP response.

A single-repeat R3-MYB transcription factor MYBC1 negatively regulates freezing tolerance in Arabidopsis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhai, Hong; Bai, Xi; Zhu, Yanming; Li, Yong; Cai, Hua; Ji, Wei; Ji, Zuojun; Liu, Xiaofei; Liu, Xin; Li, Jing

2010-01-01

We had previously identified the MYBC1 gene, which encodes a single-repeat R3-MYB protein, as a putative osmotic responding gene; however, no R3-MYB transcription factor has been reported to regulate osmotic stress tolerance. Thus, we sought to elucidate the function of MYBC1 in response to osmotic stresses. Real-time RT-PCR analysis indicated that MYBC1 expression responded to cold, dehydration, salinity and exogenous ABA at the transcript level. mybc1 mutants exhibited an increased tolerance to freezing stress, whereas 35S::MYBC1 transgenic plants exhibited decreased cold tolerance. Transcript levels of some cold-responsive genes, including CBF/DREB genes, KIN1, ADC1, ADC2 and ZAT12, though, were not altered in the mybc1 mutants or the 35S::MYBC1 transgenic plants in response to cold stress, as compared to the wild type. Microarray analysis results that are publically available were investigated and found transcript level of MYBC1 was not altered by overexpression of CBF1, CBF2, and CBF3, suggesting that MYBC1 is not down regulated by these CBF family members. Together, these results suggested that MYBC1is capable of negatively regulating the freezing tolerance of Arabidopsis in the CBF-independent pathway. In transgenic Arabidopsis carrying an MYBC1 promoter driven β-glucuronidase (GUS) construct, GUS activity was observed in all tissues and was relatively stronger in the vascular tissues. Fused MYBC1 and GFP protein revealed that MYBC1 was localized exclusively in the nuclear compartment.

Can you catch a liar? How negative emotions affect brain responses when lying or telling the truth.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alice Mado Proverbio

Full Text Available The capacity to deceive others is a complex mental skill that requires the ability to suppress truthful information. The polygraph is widely used in countries such as the USA to detect deception. However, little is known about the effects of emotional processes (such as the fear of being found guilty despite being innocent on the physiological responses that are used to detect lies. The aim of this study was to investigate the time course and neural correlates of untruthful behavior by analyzing electrocortical indexes in response to visually presented neutral and affective questions. Affective questions included sexual, shameful or disgusting topics. A total of 296 questions that were inherently true or false were presented to 25 subjects while ERPs were recorded from 128 scalp sites. Subjects were asked to lie on half of the questions and to answer truthfully on the remaining half. Behavioral and ERP responses indicated an increased need for executive control functions, namely working memory, inhibition and task switching processes, during deceptive responses. Deceptive responses also elicited a more negative N400 over the prefrontal areas and a smaller late positivity (LP 550-750 ms over the prefrontal and frontal areas. However, a reduction in LP amplitude was also elicited by truthful affective responses. The failure to observe a difference in LP responses across conditions likely results from emotional interference. A swLORETA inverse solution was computed on the N400 amplitude (300-400 ms for the dishonest - honest contrast. These results showed the activation of the superior, medial, middle and inferior frontal gyri (BA9, 11, 47 and the anterior cingulate cortex during deceptive responses. Our results conclude that the N400 amplitude is a reliable neural marker of deception.

A Human Capital Framework for a Stronger Teacher Workforce. Advancing Teaching--Improving Learning. White Paper

Science.gov (United States)

Myung, Jeannie; Martinez, Krissia; Nordstrum, Lee

2013-01-01

Building a stronger teacher workforce requires the thoughtful orchestration of multiple processes working together in a human capital system. This white paper presents a framework that can be used to take stock of current efforts to enhance the teacher workforce in school districts or educational organizations, as well as their underlying theories…

A stronger patch test elicitation reaction to the allergen hydroxycitronellal plus the irritant sodium lauryl sulfate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heydorn, S; Andersen, K E; Johansen, J D

2003-01-01

Household and cleaning products often contain both allergens and irritants. The aim of this double-blinded, randomized, paired study was to determine whether patch testing with an allergen (hydroxycitronellal) combined with an irritant [sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS)] cause a stronger patch test...

Fathers see stronger family resemblances than non-fathers in unrelated children's faces.

Science.gov (United States)

Bressan, Paola; Dal Pos, Stefania

2012-12-01

Even after they have taken all reasonable measures to decrease the probability that their spouses cheat on them, men still face paternal uncertainty. Such uncertainty can lead to paternal disinvestment, which reduces the children's probability to survive and reproduce, and thus the reproductive success of the fathers themselves. A theoretical model shows that, other things being equal, men who feel confident that they have fathered their spouses' offspring tend to enjoy greater fitness (i.e., leave a larger number of surviving progeny) than men who do not. This implies that fathers should benefit from exaggerating paternal resemblance. We argue that the self-deceiving component of this bias could be concealed by generalizing this resemblance estimation boost to (1) family pairs other than father-child and (2) strangers. Here, we tested the prediction that fathers may see, in unrelated children's faces, stronger family resemblances than non-fathers. In Study 1, 70 men and 70 women estimated facial resemblances between children paired, at three different ages (as infants, children, and adolescents), either to themselves or to their parents. In Study 2, 70 men and 70 women guessed the true parents of the same children among a set of adults. Men who were fathers reported stronger similarities between faces than non-fathers, mothers, and non-mothers did, but were no better at identifying childrens' real parents. We suggest that, in fathers, processing of facial resemblances is biased in a manner that reflects their (adaptive) wishful thinking that fathers and children are related.

TRIM30α Is a Negative-Feedback Regulator of the Intracellular DNA and DNA Virus-Triggered Response by Targeting STING.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanming Wang

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Uncontrolled immune responses to intracellular DNA have been shown to induce autoimmune diseases. Homeostasis regulation of immune responses to cytosolic DNA is critical for limiting the risk of autoimmunity and survival of the host. Here, we report that the E3 ubiquitin ligase tripartite motif protein 30α (TRIM30α was induced by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1 infection in dendritic cells (DCs. Knockdown or genetic ablation of TRIM30α augmented the type I IFNs and interleukin-6 response to intracellular DNA and DNA viruses. Trim30α-deficient mice were more resistant to infection by DNA viruses. Biochemical analyses showed that TRIM30α interacted with the stimulator of interferon genes (STING, which is a critical regulator of the DNA-sensing response. Overexpression of TRIM30α promoted the degradation of STING via K48-linked ubiquitination at Lys275 through a proteasome-dependent pathway. These findings indicate that E3 ligase TRIM30α is an important negative-feedback regulator of innate immune responses to DNA viruses by targeting STING.

Numerical simulation on multi-peak magnetic field configuration for negative hydrogen ion source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Xiaomin; Yang Chao; Liu Dagang; Wang Xueqiong

2011-01-01

Based on the magnetic charge model, the numerical algorithm of three-dimensional permanent magnets was derived by the finite difference method. Then combining the full three-dimensional particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo algorithm (PIC/MCC), two multi-peak magnetic field configurations, external magnetic filter and tent-shaped filter, were analyzed respectively, and their influences on electron energy distribution were compared. The simulation results show that both configurations can confine the diffusion of particles and can extract negative hydrogen ions; their electron energy distributions are basically similar, presenting double energy state, which are consistent with the basic mechanism of plasma discharge. The former configuration is stronger in confining and can produce more particles, whose total number is approximately four times that of the latter. The tent-shaped magnetic filter can efficiently prevent electron drift caused by inhomogeneous longitudinal magnetic field, leading to more uniform spatial distribution of negative hydrogen ions. The results of simulation are consistent with those from the foreign experiment. (authors)

Mathematics anxiety reduces default mode network deactivation in response to numerical tasks

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Belinda ePletzer

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Mathematics anxiety is negatively related to mathematics performance, thereby threatening the professional success. Preoccupation with the emotional content of the stimuli may consume working memory resources, which may be reflected in decreased deactivation of areas associated with the default mode network (DMN activated during self-referential and emotional processing. The common problem is that math anxiety is usually associated with poor math performance, so that any group differences are difficult to interpret.Here we compared the BOLD-response of 18 participants with high (HMAs and 18 participants with low mathematics anxiety (LMAs matched for their mathematical performance to two numerical tasks (number comparison, number bisection. During both tasks, we found stronger deactivation within the DMN in LMAs compared to HMAs, while BOLD-response in task-related activation areas did not differ between HMAs and LMAs. The difference in DMN deactivation between the HMA and LMA group was more pronounced in stimuli with additional requirement on inhibitory functions, but did not differ between number magnitude processing and arithmetic fact retrieval.

Mathematics anxiety reduces default mode network deactivation in response to numerical tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Pletzer, Belinda; Kronbichler, Martin; Nuerk, Hans-Christoph; Kerschbaum, Hubert H

2015-01-01

Mathematics anxiety is negatively related to mathematics performance, thereby threatening the professional success. Preoccupation with the emotional content of the stimuli may consume working memory resources, which may be reflected in decreased deactivation of areas associated with the default mode network (DMN) activated during self-referential and emotional processing. The common problem is that math anxiety is usually associated with poor math performance, so that any group differences are difficult to interpret. Here we compared the BOLD-response of 18 participants with high (HMAs) and 18 participants with low mathematics anxiety (LMAs) matched for their mathematical performance to two numerical tasks (number comparison, number bisection). During both tasks, we found stronger deactivation within the DMN in LMAs compared to HMAs, while BOLD-response in task-related activation areas did not differ between HMAs and LMAs. The difference in DMN deactivation between the HMA and LMA group was more pronounced in stimuli with additional requirement on inhibitory functions, but did not differ between number magnitude processing and arithmetic fact retrieval.

Neural responses to gains and losses in children of suicide attempters.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsypes, Aliona; Owens, Max; Hajcak, Greg; Gibb, Brandon E

2017-02-01

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 126(2) of Journal of Abnormal Psychology (see record 2016-56318-001). In the article, Figure 1 had incorrect axis labels. There was also an error in the abstract, which did not state that ΔFN was calculated as FN to losses minus FN to gains. All versions of this article have been corrected.] Suicidal behavior aggregates within families, yet the specific mechanisms of suicide-risk transmission are poorly understood. Despite some evidence that abnormal patterns of reward responsiveness might constitute one such potential mechanism, empirical evidence is lacking. The goal of this study was to examine neural responses to gains and losses in children of suicide attempters with no personal history of suicide attempt (SA) themselves. To objectively assess these neural responses, we used feedback negativity (FN), a psychophysiological marker of responsiveness to reward and loss. Participants were 66 parents and their 7-11-year-old children (22 with parental history of SA and 44 demographically and clinically matched children of parents with no SA history). Diagnostic interviews were used to gather information about psychiatric diagnoses, symptoms, and histories of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Children also completed a guessing task, during which continuous electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded. The FN was scored as the mean amplitude, 275-375 ms, following gain or loss feedback at frontocentral sites (Fz and FCz). Children of suicide attempters exhibited significantly more negative ΔFN (i.e., FN to losses minus FN to gains) than children of parents with no SA history. We found that this difference in ΔFN was due specifically to children of parents with a history of SA exhibiting a stronger response to loss, and no group differences were observed for responses to gains. The results suggest that an increased neural response to loss might represent one of the potential pathways of the familial

SIRT6 Acts as a Negative Regulator in Dengue Virus-Induced Inflammatory Response by Targeting the DNA Binding Domain of NF-κB p65

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Pengcheng Li

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Dengue virus (DENV is a mosquito-borne single-stranded RNA virus causing human disease with variable severity. The production of massive inflammatory cytokines in dengue patients has been associated with dengue disease severity. However, the regulation of these inflammatory responses remains unclear. In this study, we report that SIRT6 is a negative regulator of innate immune responses during DENV infection. Silencing of Sirt6 enhances DENV-induced proinflammatory cytokine and chemokine production. Overexpression of SIRT6 inhibits RIG-I-like receptor (RLR and Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3 mediated NF-κB activation. The sirtuin core domain of SIRT6 is required for the inhibition of NF-κB p65 function. SIRT6 interacts with the DNA binding domain of p65 and competes with p65 to occupy the Il6 promoter during DENV infection. Collectively, our study demonstrates that SIRT6 negatively regulates DENV-induced inflammatory response via RLR and TLR3 signaling pathways.

Building Stronger State Energy Partnerships with the U.S. Department of Energy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marks, Kate

2011-09-30

This final technical report details the results of total work efforts and progress made from October 2007 – September 2011 under the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) cooperative agreement DE-FC26-07NT43264, Building Stronger State Energy Partnerships with the U.S. Department of Energy. Major topical project areas in this final report include work efforts in the following areas: Energy Assurance and Critical Infrastructure, State and Regional Technical Assistance, Regional Initiative, Regional Coordination and Technical Assistance, and International Activities in China. All required deliverables have been provided to the National Energy Technology Laboratory and DOE program officials.

Transgenerational effects enhance specific immune response in a wild passerine

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Juli Broggi

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Vertebrate mothers transfer diverse compounds to developing embryos that can affect their development and final phenotype (i.e., maternal effects. However, the way such effects modulate offspring phenotype, in particular their immunity, remains unclear. To test the impact of maternal effects on offspring development, we treated wild breeding house sparrows (Passer domesticus in Sevilla, SE Spain with Newcastle disease virus (NDV vaccine. Female parents were vaccinated when caring for first broods, eliciting a specific immune response to NDV. The immune response to the same vaccine, and to the PHA inflammatory test were measured in 11-day-old chicks from their following brood. Vaccinated chicks from vaccinated mothers developed a stronger specific response that was related to maternal NDV antibody concentration while rearing their chicks. The chicks’ carotenoid concentration and total antioxidant capacity in blood were negatively related to NDV antibody concentration, whereas no relation with PHA response was found. Specific NDV antibodies could not be detected in 11-day-old control chicks from vaccinated mothers, implying that maternally transmitted antibodies are not directly involved but may promote offspring specific immunity through a priming effect, while other immunity components remain unaffected. Maternally transmitted antibodies in the house sparrow are short-lived, depend on maternal circulation levels and enhance pre-fledging chick specific immunity when exposed to the same pathogens as the mothers.

Do External or Internal Technology Spillovers Have a Stronger Influence on Innovation Efficiency in China?

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Xionghe Qin

2017-09-01

Full Text Available In this study, we bridge an important gap in the literature by comparing the extent to which external technology spillovers, as indicated by foreign direct investment (FDI, and internal technology spillovers, as indicated by university-institute-industry cooperation (UIC, influence innovation efficiency in China. We divide the innovation process into two sequential stages, namely the knowledge creation and technology commercialization stages, and employ a network data envelopment analysis approach to measure innovation efficiency at each stage. The spatial analysis of the distribution of knowledge creation efficiency and technology commercialization efficiency reveals the heterogeneity of innovation efficiency at the provincial level. Then, a panel data regression is used to analyze the effect of FDI and UIC on innovation efficiency at each stage, using data from 2009 to 2015 for 30 provinces in China. By comparing FDI with UIC, we find that FDI has a higher coefficient and stronger significance level at the knowledge creation stage, while only industry-institute linkages exhibit a stronger association with innovation efficiency at the technology commercialization stage.

Controller synthesis for negative imaginary systems: a data driven approach

KAUST Repository

Mabrok, Mohamed

2016-02-17

The negative imaginary (NI) property occurs in many important applications. For instance, flexible structure systems with collocated force actuators and position sensors can be modelled as negative imaginary systems. In this study, a data-driven controller synthesis methodology for NI systems is presented. In this approach, measured frequency response data of the plant is used to construct the controller frequency response at every frequency by minimising a cost function. Then, this controller response is used to identify the controller transfer function using system identification methods. © The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2016.

Interactions between negative energy balance, metabolic diseases, uterine health and immune response in transition dairy cows.

Science.gov (United States)

Esposito, Giulia; Irons, Pete C; Webb, Edward C; Chapwanya, Aspinas

2014-01-30

The biological cycles of milk production and reproduction determine dairying profitability thus making management decisions dynamic and time-dependent. Diseases also negatively impact on net earnings of a dairy enterprise. Transition cows in particular face the challenge of negative energy balance (NEB) and/or disproportional energy metabolism (fatty liver, ketosis, subacute, acute ruminal acidosis); disturbed mineral utilization (milk fever, sub-clinical hypocalcemia); and perturbed immune function (retained placenta, metritis, mastitis). Consequently NEB and reduced dry matter intake are aggravated. The combined effects of all these challenges are reduced fertility and milk production resulting in diminishing profits. Risk factors such as NEB, inflammation and impairment of the immune response are highly cause-and-effect related. Thus, managing cows during the transition period should be geared toward reducing NEB or feeding specially formulated diets to improve immunity. Given that all cows experience a reduced feed intake and body condition, infection and inflammation of the uterus after calving, there is a need for further research on the immunology of transition dairy cows. Integrative approaches at the molecular, cellular and animal level may unravel the complex interactions between disturbed metabolism and immune function that predispose cows to periparturient diseases. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Functional analysis of rice HOMEOBOX4 (Oshox4) gene reveals a negative function in gibberellin responses.

Science.gov (United States)

Dai, Mingqiu; Hu, Yongfeng; Ma, Qian; Zhao, Yu; Zhou, Dao-Xiu

2008-02-01

The homeodomain-leucine zipper (HD-Zip) putative transcription factor genes are divided into 4 families. In this work, we studied the function of a rice HD-Zip I gene, H OME O BO X4 (Oshox4). Oshox4 transcripts were detected in leaf and floral organ primordia but excluded from the shoot apical meristem and the protein was nuclear localized. Over-expression of Oshox4 in rice induced a semi-dwarf phenotype that could not be complemented by applied GA3. The over-expression plants accumulated elevated levels of bioactive GA, while the GA catabolic gene GA2ox3 was upregulated in the transgenic plants. In addition, over-expression of Oshox4 blocked GA-dependent alpha-amylase production. However, down-regulation of Oshox4 in RNAi transgenic plants induced no phenotypic alteration. Interestingly, the expression of YAB1 that is involved in the negative feedback regulation of the GA biosynthesis was upregulated in the Oshox4 over-expressing plants. One-hybrid assays showed that Oshox4 could interact with YAB1 promoter in yeast. In addition, Oshox4 expression was upregulated by GA. These data together suggest that Oshox4 may be involved in the negative regulation of GA signalling and may play a role to fine tune GA responses in rice.

Self-guide framing and persuasion: responsibly increasing message processing to ideal levels.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Lisa M; Petty, Richard E

2003-03-01

The current research examines the effect that framing persuasive messages in terms of self-guides (ideal vs. ought) has on the attitudes and cognitive responses of individuals with chronic ideal versus ought self-guides. The strength of participants' ideal and ought self-guides and the magnitude of participants' ideal and ought self-discrepancies were measured using a computerized reaction time program. One week later, participants read a persuasive message about a fictional breakfast product, framed in terms of either ideals or oughts. Matching framing to stronger self-guide led to enhanced message processing activity, especially among individuals who were low in need for cognition. Individuals who read messages framed to match their stronger self-guides paid more attention to argument quality, as reflected in their attitudes and cognitive responses. Messages with self-guide framing that matched individuals' stronger self-discrepancies did not have this effect on processing.

Peptide-MHC class I stability is a stronger predictor of CTL immunogenicity than peptide affinity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harndahl, Mikkel Nors; Rasmussen, Michael; Nielsen, Morten

2012-01-01

Peptide-MHC class I stability is a stronger predictor of CTL immunogenicity than peptide affinity Mikkel Harndahla, Michael Rasmussena, Morten Nielsenb, Soren Buusa,∗ a Laboratory of Experimental Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark b Center for Biological Seq...... al., 2007. J. Immunol. 178, 7890–7901. doi:10.1016/j.molimm.2012.02.025...

Enforcement costs: some humanitarian alternatives to stronger patent rights.

Science.gov (United States)

Trotter, Andrew

2012-01-01

Diseases that cause comparatively few problems in developed countries kill millions of people in the Third World each year. In many cases, people die because they cannot afford the medication needed to save their lives. In others, there are simply no drugs available because there are no wealthy western patients to justify pharmaceutical companies investing in a cure. This reveals a deep-seated problem within the patent system and the pharmaceutical industry that emphasises markets and profits at the expense of health and global welfare. Global efforts have seen substantial improvements in access to medicines in isolated areas, but with international agreements driving towards stronger patent protection and the expiry date for the TRIPS grace period fast approaching, it is time to consider alternatives which will allow the patent system to work for the humanitarian cause rather than against it. This paper considers two such problems in the patent system and pharmaceutical industry - prohibitive pricing and misdirected incentives - to offer a mode of regulation and enforcement that will support both a viable pharmaceutical industry and the human right to health and medication.

Beyond the negative: political attitudes and ideologies strategically manage opportunities, too.

Science.gov (United States)

White, Andrew Edward; Neuberg, Steven L

2014-06-01

Hibbing et al. use evolutionarily derived logic to suggest that political attitudes are related to responses to negative features of the environment. We suggest that the authors focus too narrowly on the negative and contend, instead, that a more comprehensive evolutionary approach focusing on people's responses to threats and opportunities will better account for variation in political attitudes.

Brain reward region responsivity of adolescents with and without parental substance use disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Stice, Eric; Yokum, Sonja

2014-09-01

The present study tested the competing hypotheses that adolescents at risk for future substance abuse and dependence by virtue of parental substance use disorders show either weaker or stronger responsivity of brain regions implicated in reward relative to youth without parental history of substance use disorders. Adolescents (n = 52) matched on demographics with and without parental substance use disorders, as determined by diagnostic interviews, who denied substance use in the past year were compared on functional MRI (fMRI) paradigms assessing neural response to receipt and anticipated receipt of monetary and food reward. Parental-history-positive versus -negative adolescents showed greater activation in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and bilateral putamen, and less activation in the fusiform gyrus and inferior temporal gyrus in response to anticipating winning money, as well as greater activation in the left midbrain and right paracentral lobule, and less activation in the right middle frontal gyrus in response to milkshake receipt. Results indicate that adolescents at risk for future onset of substance use disorders show elevated responsivity of brain regions implicated in reward, extending results from 2 smaller prior studies that found that individuals with versus without parental alcohol use disorders showed greater reward region response to anticipated monetary reward and pictures of alcohol. Collectively, results provide support for the reward surfeit model of substance use disorders, rather than the reward deficit model.

Hostile attributional bias, negative emotional responding, and aggression in adults: moderating effects of gender and impulsivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Pan; Coccaro, Emil F; Jacobson, Kristen C

2012-01-01

The current study examined the main effects of hostile attributional bias (HAB) and negative emotional responding on a variety of aggressive behaviors in adults, including general aggression, physical aggression, relational aggression, and verbal aggression. Effects of both externalizing (anger) and internalizing (embarrassment/upset) negative emotions were considered. In addition, the moderating roles of gender and impulsivity on the effects of HAB and negative emotional responding were explored. Multilevel models were fitted to data from 2,749 adult twins aged 20-55 from the PennTwins cohort. HAB was positively associated with all four forms of aggression. There was also a significant interaction between impulsivity and HAB for general aggression. Specifically, the relationship between HAB and general aggression was only significant for individuals with average or above-average levels of impulsivity. Negative emotional responding was also found to predict all measures of aggression, although in different ways. Anger was positively associated with all forms of aggression, whereas embarrassment/upset predicted decreased levels of general, physical, and verbal aggression but increased levels of relational aggression. The associations between negative emotional responding and aggression were generally stronger for males than females. The current study provides evidence for the utility of HAB and negative emotional responding as predictors of adult aggression and further suggests that gender and impulsivity may moderate their links with aggression. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Hostile Attributional Bias, Negative Emotional Responding, and Aggression in Adults: Moderating Effects of Gender and Impulsivity

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Pan; Coccaro, Emil F.; Jacobson, Kristen C.

2012-01-01

The current study examined the main effects of hostile attributional bias (HAB) and negative emotional responding on a variety of aggressive behaviors in adults, including general aggression, physical aggression, relational aggression, and verbal aggression. Effects of both externalizing (anger) and internalizing (embarrassment/upset) negative emotions were considered. In addition, the moderating roles of gender and impulsivity on the effects of HAB and negative emotional responding were explored. Multilevel models were fitted to data from 2,749 adult twins aged 20–55 from the PennTwins cohort. HAB was positively associated with all four forms of aggression. There was also a significant interaction between impulsivity and HAB for general aggression. Specifically, the relationship between HAB and general aggression was only significant for individuals with average or above-average levels of impulsivity. Negative emotional responding was also found to predict all measures of aggression, although in different ways. Anger was positively associated with all forms of aggression, whereas embarrassment/upset predicted decreased levels of general, physical, and verbal aggression but increased levels of relational aggression. The associations between negative emotional responding and aggression were generally stronger for males than females. The current study provides evidence for the utility of HAB and negative emotional responding as predictors of adult aggression and further suggests that gender and impulsivity may moderate their links with aggression. PMID:24833604

Erotic Negativity and Victorian Aestheticism, 1864-1896

OpenAIRE

Friedman, Dustin Edward

2012-01-01

What is the relationship between erotic desire and aesthetic contemplation? This question was central to three of British aestheticism's most notable theorist-practitioners: Walter Pater, Oscar Wilde, and Vernon Lee (Violet Paget). “ Erotic Negativity ” contends that Pater, Wilde, and Lee exercised Hegel's concept of “ the negative ” to describe the relationship between aesthetic experience and erotic response. The aesthete, when he or she gazes upon homoerotic aesth...

The Relations of Mothers' Negative Expressivity to Children's Experience and Expression of Negative Emotion

Science.gov (United States)

Valiente, Carlos; Eisenberg, Nancy; Shepard, Stephanie A.; Fabes, Richard A.; Cumberland, Amanda J.; Losoya, Sandra H.; Spinrad, Tracy L.

2004-01-01

Guided by the heuristic model proposed by Eisenberg et al. [Psychol. Inq. 9 (1998) 241], we examined the relations of mothers' reported and observed negative expressivity to children's (N = 159; 74 girls; M age = 7.67 years) experience and expression of emotion. Children's experience and/or expression of emotion in response to a distressing film…

Neural effects of positive and negative incentives during marijuana withdrawal.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesca M Filbey

Full Text Available In spite of evidence suggesting two possible mechanisms related to drug-seeking behavior, namely reward-seeking and harm avoidance, much of the addiction literature has focused largely on positive incentivization mechanisms associated with addiction. In this study, we examined the contributing neural mechanisms of avoidance of an aversive state to drug-seeking behavior during marijuana withdrawal. To that end, marijuana users were scanned while performing the monetary incentive delay task in order to assess positive and negative incentive processes. The results showed a group x incentive interaction, such that marijuana users had greater response in areas that underlie reward processes during positive incentives while controls showed greater response in the same areas, but to negative incentives. Furthermore, a negative correlation between withdrawal symptoms and response in the amygdala during negative incentives was found in the marijuana users. These findings suggest that although marijuana users have greater reward sensitivity and less harm avoidance than controls, that attenuated amygdala response, an area that underlies fear and avoidance, was present in marijuana users with greater marijuana withdrawal symptoms. This is concordant with models of drug addiction that involve multiple sources of reinforcement in substance use disorders, and suggests the importance of strategies that focus on respective mechanisms.

Affective associations with negativity: Why popular peers attract youths' visual attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Lansu, Tessa A M; Troop-Gordon, Wendy

2017-10-01

Visual attention to high-status peers is well documented, but whether this attentional bias is due to high-status individuals' leadership and prosocial characteristics or due to their more agonistic behaviors has yet to be examined. To identify the affective associations that may underlie visual attention for high-status versus low-status peers, 122 early adolescents (67 girls; M age =11.0years, SD=0.7) completed a primed attention paradigm. Visual attention was measured using eye tracking as participants looked simultaneously at photographs of two classmates: one nominated by peers as popular and one nominated by peers as unpopular. Prior to each trial, the early adolescents were presented with a positive prime, the word "nice"; a negative prime, the word "stupid"; or no prime. Primary analyses focused on first-gaze preference and total gaze time The results showed a stronger first gaze preference for popular peers than for unpopular peers in the no-prime and negative prime trials than in the positive prime trials. The visual preference for a popular peer, thus, was attenuated by the positive prime. These findings are consistent with the notion that youths may visually attend to high-status peers due to their association with more negative characteristics and the threat they may pose to youths' own social standing and ability to gain interpersonal resources. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Developmental Roots of Social Responsibility in Childhood and Adolescence

Science.gov (United States)

Wray-Lake, Laura; Syvertsen, Amy K.

2011-01-01

Social responsibility is a value orientation, rooted in democratic relationships with others and moral principles of care and justice, that motivates certain civic actions. Given its relevance for building stronger relationships and communities, the development of social responsibility within individuals should be a more concerted focus for…

Negative and positive interactions among plants: effects of competitors and litter on seedling emergence and growth of forest and grassland species.

Science.gov (United States)

Loydi, A; Donath, T W; Otte, A; Eckstein, R L

2015-05-01

Living plant neighbours, but also their dead aboveground remains (i.e. litter), may individually exert negative or positive effects on plant recruitment. Although living plants and litter co-occur in most ecosystems, few studies have addressed their combined effects, and conclusions are ambivalent. Therefore, we examined the response in terms of seedling emergence and growth of herbaceous grassland and forest species to different litter types and amounts and the presence of competitors. We conducted a pot experiment testing the effects of litter type (grass, oak), litter amount (low, medium, high) and interspecific competition (presence or absence of four Festuca arundinacea individuals) on seedling emergence and biomass of four congeneric pairs of hemicryptophytes from two habitat types (woodland, grassland). Interactions between litter and competition were weak. Litter presence increased competitor biomass. It also had positive effects on seedling emergence at low litter amounts and negative effects at high litter amounts, while competition had no effect on seedling emergence. Seedling biomass was negatively affected by the presence of competitors, and this effect was stronger in combination with high amounts of litter. Litter affected seedling emergence while competition determined the biomass of the emerged individuals, both affecting early stages of seedling recruitment. High litter accumulation also reduced seedling biomass, but this effect seemed to be additive to competitor effects. This suggests that live and dead plant mass can affect species recruitment in natural systems, but the mechanisms by which they operate and their timing differ. © 2014 German Botanical Society and The Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands.

Becoming Stronger at Broken Places: A Model for Group Work with Young Adult from Divorced Families.

Science.gov (United States)

Hage, Sally M.; Nosanow, Mia

2000-01-01

Describes a model for group work with young adults from divorced families using an 8-session psychoeducational group intervention. Goals include reducing isolation, establishing connectedness, and building a stronger sense of identify. By educating young adults on topics such as assertiveness, communication skills, and self-esteem, it will give…

Adolescent Age Moderates Genetic and Environmental Influences on Parent-Adolescent Positivity and Negativity: Implications for Genotype-Environment Correlation

Science.gov (United States)

Marceau, Kristine; Knopik, Valerie S.; Neiderhiser, Jenae M.; Lichtenstein, Paul; Spotts, Erica L.; Ganiban, Jody M.; Reiss, David

2015-01-01

In the present study we examined how genotype-environment correlation processes differ as a function of adolescent age. We tested whether adolescent age moderates genetic and environmental influences on positivity and negativity in mother-adolescent and father-adolescent relationships using parallel samples of twin parents from the Twin and Offspring Study in Sweden and twin/sibling adolescents from the Nonshared Environment in Adolescent Development Study. We inferred differences in the role of passive and non-passive genotype-environment correlation based on biometric moderation findings. Findings indicated that non-passive rGE played a stronger role for positivity in mother- and father- adolescent relationships in families with older adolescents than families with younger adolescents, and that passive rGE played a stronger role for positivity in the mother-adolescent relationship in families with younger adolescents than in families with older adolescents. Implications of these findings for the timing and targeting of interventions on family relationships are discussed. PMID:25924807

Plasmon response of a metal-semiconductor multilayer 4π-spiral as a negative-index metamaterial

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ahmadivand, Arash, E-mail: aahma011@fiu.edu; Pala, Nezih [Florida International University, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (United States)

2014-12-15

In this study, we investigate the optical response and plasmonic features of a multilayer 4π-spiral composed of metal-semiconductor arms, numerically, by employing a finite-difference time-domain method. We verified that the proposed structure is able to support strong plasmon and Fano resonances in the circular arms. We showed that the negative polarizability of the spiral provides an opportunity to consider the examined 4π-spiral structure as a meta-atom. Quantifying the effective refractive index of the structure for the presence of various semiconductor substances such as Si, GaP, and InP, we obtained the highest possible value for the associated figure of merit (FOM). Ultimately, for a finite spiral structure with a compositional and multilayer arrangement of Au and GaP arms, the FOM is determined as approximately ∼62.3.

Creating double negative index materials using the Babinet principle with one metasurface

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Lei; Koschny, Thomas; Soukoulis, C. M.

2013-01-01

Metamaterials are patterned metallic structures which permit access to a novel electromagnetic response, negative index of refraction, impossible to achieve with naturally occurring materials. Using the Babinet principle, the complementary split ring resonator (SRR) is etched in a metallic plate to provide negative ɛ, with perpendicular direction. Here we propose a new design, etched in a metallic plate to provide negative magnetic permeability μ, with perpendicular direction. The combined electromagnetic response of this planar metamaterial, where the negative μ comes from the aperture and the negative ɛ from the remainder of the continuous metallic plate, allows achievement of a double negative index metamaterial (NIM) with only one metasurface and strong transmission. These designs can be used to fabricate NIMs at microwave and optical wavelengths and three-dimensional metamaterials.

Local and global stability for Lotka-Volterra systems with distributed delays and instantaneous negative feedbacks

Science.gov (United States)

Faria, Teresa; Oliveira, José J.

This paper addresses the local and global stability of n-dimensional Lotka-Volterra systems with distributed delays and instantaneous negative feedbacks. Necessary and sufficient conditions for local stability independent of the choice of the delay functions are given, by imposing a weak nondelayed diagonal dominance which cancels the delayed competition effect. The global asymptotic stability of positive equilibria is established under conditions slightly stronger than the ones required for the linear stability. For the case of monotone interactions, however, sharper conditions are presented. This paper generalizes known results for discrete delays to systems with distributed delays. Several applications illustrate the results.

The Effect of Police Response Time on Crime Detection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Blanes i Vidal, Jordi; Kirchmaier, Tom

preferred estimate, a 10% increase in response time leads to a 4.6 percentage points decrease in the likelihood of detection. A faster response time also decreases the number of days that it takes for the police to detect a crime, conditional on eventual detection. We find stronger effects for thefts than...

Response and binding elements for ligand-dependent positive transcription factors integrate positive and negative regulation of gene expression

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosenfeld, M.G.; Glass, C.K.; Adler, S.; Crenshaw, E.B. III; He, X.; Lira, S.A.; Elsholtz, H.P.; Mangalam, H.J.; Holloway, J.M.; Nelson, C.; Albert, V.R.; Ingraham, H.A.

1988-01-01

Accurate, regulated initiation of mRNA transcription by RNA polymerase II is dependent on the actions of a variety of positive and negative trans-acting factors that bind cis-acting promoter and enhancer elements. These transcription factors may exert their actions in a tissue-specific manner or function under control of plasma membrane or intracellular ligand-dependent receptors. A major goal in the authors' laboratory has been to identify the molecular mechanisms responsible for the serial activation of hormone-encoding genes in the pituitary during development and the positive and negative regulation of their transcription. The anterior pituitary gland contains phenotypically distinct cell types, each of which expresses unique trophic hormones: adrenocorticotropic hormone, thyroid-stimulating hormone, prolactin, growth hormone, and follicle-stimulating hormone/luteinizing hormone. The structurally related prolactin and growth hormone genes are expressed in lactotrophs and somatotrophs, respectively, with their expression virtually limited to the pituitary gland. The reported transient coexpression of these two structurally related neuroendocrine genes raises the possibility that the prolactin and growth hormone genes are developmentally controlled by a common factor(s)

Early growth response-1 negative feedback regulates skeletal muscle postprandial insulin sensitivity via activating Ptp1b transcription.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Jing; Tao, Wei-Wei; Chong, Dan-Yang; Lai, Shan-Shan; Wang, Chuang; Liu, Qi; Zhang, Tong-Yu; Xue, Bin; Li, Chao-Jun

2018-03-15

Postprandial insulin desensitization plays a critical role in maintaining whole-body glucose homeostasis by avoiding the excessive absorption of blood glucose; however, the detailed mechanisms that underlie how the major player, skeletal muscle, desensitizes insulin action remain to be elucidated. Herein, we report that early growth response gene-1 ( Egr-1) is activated by insulin in skeletal muscle and provides feedback inhibition that regulates insulin sensitivity after a meal. The inhibition of the transcriptional activity of Egr-1 enhanced the phosphorylation of the insulin receptor (InsR) and Akt, thus increasing glucose uptake in L6 myotubes after insulin stimulation, whereas overexpression of Egr-1 decreased insulin sensitivity. Furthermore, deletion of Egr-1 in the skeletal muscle improved systemic insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance, which resulted in lower blood glucose levels after refeeding. Mechanistic analysis demonstrated that EGR-1 inhibited InsR phosphorylation and glucose uptake in skeletal muscle by binding to the proximal promoter region of protein tyrosine phosphatase-1B (PTP1B) and directly activating transcription. PTP1B knockdown largely restored insulin sensitivity and enhanced glucose uptake, even under conditions of EGR-1 overexpression. Our results indicate that EGR-1/PTP1B signaling negatively regulates postprandial insulin sensitivity and suggest a potential therapeutic target for the prevention and treatment of excessive glucose absorption.-Wu, J., Tao, W.-W., Chong, D.-Y., Lai, S.-S., Wang, C., Liu, Q., Zhang, T.-Y., Xue, B., Li, C.-J. Early growth response-1 negative feedback regulates skeletal muscle postprandial insulin sensitivity via activating Ptp1b transcription.

Factor structure of the Brief Negative Symptom Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Strauss, Gregory P; Hong, L Elliot; Gold, James M; Buchanan, Robert W; McMahon, Robert P; Keller, William R; Fischer, Bernard A; Catalano, Lauren T; Culbreth, Adam J; Carpenter, William T; Kirkpatrick, Brian

2012-12-01

The current study examined the factor structure of the Brief Negative Symptom Scale (BNSS), a next-generation negative symptom rating instrument developed in response to the NIMH-sponsored Consensus Development Conference on Negative Symptoms. Participants included 146 individuals with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Principal axis factoring indicated two distinct factors explaining 68.7% of the variance. Similar to previous findings, the factors reflected motivation and pleasure and emotional expressivity. These findings provide further support for the construct validity of the BNSS, and for the existence of these two negative symptom factors. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Interpersonal problems and negative affect in Borderline Personality and Depressive Disorders in daily life

Science.gov (United States)

Hepp, Johanna; Lane, Sean P.; Carpenter, Ryan W.; Niedtfeld, Inga; Brown, Whitney C.; Trull, Timothy J.

2016-01-01

Theories of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) suggest that interpersonal problems in BPD act as triggers for negative affect and, at the same time, are a possible result of affective dysregulation. Therefore, we assessed the relations between momentary negative affect (hostility, sadness, fear) and interpersonal problems (rejection, disagreement) in a sample of 80 BPD and 51 depressed outpatients at 6 time-points over 28 days. Data were analyzed using multivariate multi-level modeling to separate momentary-, day-, and person-level effects. Results revealed a mutually reinforcing relationship between disagreement and hostility, rejection and hostility, and between rejection and sadness in both groups, at the momentary and day level. The mutual reinforcement between hostility and rejection/disagreement was significantly stronger in the BPD group. Moreover, the link between rejection and sadness was present at all three levels of analysis for the BPD group, while it was localized to the momentary level in the depressed group. PMID:28529826

Predictive value of BRCA1/2 mRNA expression for response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in BRCA-negative breast cancers.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Ye; Ouyang, Tao; Li, Jinfeng; Wang, Tianfeng; Fan, Zhaoqing; Fan, Tie; Lin, Benyao; Xie, Yuntao

2018-01-01

It is well known that BRCA1 and BRCA2 play a central role in DNA repair, but the relationship between BRCA1 and BRCA2 mRNA expression and response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in sporadic breast cancer patients has not been well established. Here, we investigate the association between BRCA1 or BRCA2 mRNA expression levels and pathological response in 674 BRCA1/2 mutation-negative breast cancer patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. BRCA1 and BRCA2 mRNA expression were assessed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in core biopsy breast cancer tissue obtained prior to the initiation of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. A total 129 patients (19.1%) achieved pathological complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Among patients treated with anthracycline-based chemotherapy (n = 531), BRCA1 mRNA low expression patients had a significantly higher pCR rate than intermediate or high BRCA1 mRNA expression groups (24.6% vs 16.8% or 14.0%, P = .031) and retained borderline significance (OR = 1.54, 95% CI = 0.93-2.56, P = .094) in multivariate analysis. Among the 129 patients who received a taxane-based regimen, pCR rate showed no differences in BRCA1 low, intermediate, and high mRNA level subgroups (19.6%, 26.8% and 21.4%, respectively; P = .71). BRCA2 mRNA level was not associated with pCR rate in the anthracyline-based treated subgroup (P = .60) or the taxane-based regimen subgroup (P = .82). Taken together, our findings suggested that BRCA1 mRNA expression could be used as a predictive marker in BRCA1/2 mutation-negative breast cancer patients who received neoadjuvant anthracycline-based treatment. © 2017 The Authors. Cancer Science published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japanese Cancer Association.

Sleep Efficiency Modulates Associations Between Family Stress and Adolescent Depressive Symptoms and Negative Affect.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiang, Jessica J; Kim, Joanna J; Almeida, David M; Bower, Julienne E; Dahl, Ronald E; Irwin, Michael R; McCreath, Heather; Fuligni, Andrew J

2017-10-01

The goal of this study was to determine whether sleep moderates the associations between family-related stress and depressive symptoms and negative affect outcomes during adolescence. We combined traditional survey measures of stress and depressive symptoms with daily assessments of stress and negative affect to examine whether sleep differentially impacts the link between chronic and acute experiences of stress and affect. Participants were 316 adolescents from ethnically diverse backgrounds. Primary caregivers and adolescents reported on stressful family events during the past 12 and 3 months, respectively. Adolescents also reported on their daily experiences of family demands for 15 days and wore actigraph watches for the assessment of sleep during the first eight nights. Regression analyses revealed that more stressful family events were related to more depressive symptoms. This relation was stronger among adolescents with lower sleep efficiency. The same pattern emerged for the relation between daily family demands and negative affect aggregated across the 15 days. Daily-level analyses indicated that daily negative affect was related to daily family demands when sleep efficiency was higher than usual, but only among European American adolescents. These findings suggest that chronic experiences of lower sleep efficiency, but not sleep duration, may render adolescents more vulnerable to the negative effects of family stress on emotional adjustment. A more complex picture emerged for the role of prior night's sleep in the day-to-day variation in negative affect reactivity to family stress. Copyright © 2017 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Negative electroretinograms in pericentral pigmentary retinal degeneration.

Science.gov (United States)

Hotta, Kazuki; Kondo, Mineo; Nakamura, Makoto; Hotta, Junko; Terasaki, Hiroko; Miyake, Yozo; Hida, Tetsuo

2006-01-01

The clinical presentation and electrophysiological findings are described of three consecutive cases with pericentral pigmentary retinal degeneration. The responses to bright flashes after dark adaptation showed negative waveform shape in all cases. Rod responses were strongly reduced compared with cone responses. Cone electroretinograms elicited by long-duration stimuli showed greater loss of the on-response than the off-response. The ratio of the on-response amplitude to off-response amplitude of these patients (0.52 +/- 0.12; mean +/- SD, n = 6) was significantly smaller than that of normal subject (0.83 +/- 0.21; mean +/- SD, n = 8) (Mann-Whitney U-test, P retinal function, especially in transmission between photoreceptors and depolarizing bipolar cells.

Self-regulation as a mediator between sibling relationship quality and early adolescents' positive and negative outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Padilla-Walker, Laura M; Harper, James M; Jensen, Alexander C

2010-08-01

The current study examined the role of adolescents' self-regulation as a mediator between sibling relationship quality and adolescent outcomes, after controlling for the quality of the parent-child relationship. Participants were 395 families (282 two parent; 113 single parent) with an adolescent child (M age of child at Time 1 = 11.15, SD = .96, 49% female) who took part in [project name masked for blind review] at both Time 1 and Time 2. Path analysis via structural equation modeling suggested that sibling affection was longitudinally and positively related to self-regulation and prosocial behaviors, and negatively related to externalizing behaviors; while sibling hostility was positively, and having a sister was negatively related to internalizing behaviors (in general, paths were stronger for adolescents from two- vs. single-parent families). There was also evidence that adolescents' self-regulation partially mediated the relation between sibling affection and positive and negative adolescent outcomes. The discussion focuses on the importance of continued research examining the mechanisms through which the sibling relationship influences development during adolescence.

All-angle negative refraction and active flat lensing of ultraviolet light.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Ting; Agrawal, Amit; Abashin, Maxim; Chau, Kenneth J; Lezec, Henri J

2013-05-23

Decades ago, Veselago predicted that a material with simultaneously negative electric and magnetic polarization responses would yield a 'left-handed' medium in which light propagates with opposite phase and energy velocities--a condition described by a negative refractive index. He proposed that a flat slab of left-handed material possessing an isotropic refractive index of -1 could act like an imaging lens in free space. Left-handed materials do not occur naturally, and it has only recently become possible to achieve a left-handed response using metamaterials, that is, electromagnetic structures engineered on subwavelength scales to elicit tailored polarization responses. So far, left-handed responses have typically been implemented using resonant metamaterials composed of periodic arrays of unit cells containing inductive-capacitive resonators and conductive wires. Negative refractive indices that are isotropic in two or three dimensions at microwave frequencies have been achieved in resonant metamaterials with centimetre-scale features. Scaling the left-handed response to higher frequencies, such as infrared or visible, has been done by shrinking critical dimensions to submicrometre scales by means of top-down nanofabrication. This miniaturization has, however, so far been achieved at the cost of reduced unit-cell symmetry, yielding a refractive index that is negative along only one axis. Moreover, lithographic scaling limits have so far precluded the fabrication of resonant metamaterials with left-handed responses at frequencies beyond the visible. Here we report the experimental implementation of a bulk metamaterial with a left-handed response to ultraviolet light. The structure, based on stacked plasmonic waveguides, yields an omnidirectional left-handed response for transverse magnetic polarization characterized by a negative refractive index. By engineering the structure to have a refractive index close to -1 over a broad angular range, we achieve Veselago

Next-generation negative symptom assessment for clinical trials: validation of the Brief Negative Symptom Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Strauss, Gregory P; Keller, William R; Buchanan, Robert W; Gold, James M; Fischer, Bernard A; McMahon, Robert P; Catalano, Lauren T; Culbreth, Adam J; Carpenter, William T; Kirkpatrick, Brian

2012-12-01

The current study examined the psychometric properties of the Brief Negative Symptom Scale (BNSS), a next-generation rating instrument developed in response to the NIMH sponsored consensus development conference on negative symptoms. Participants included 100 individuals with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder who completed a clinical interview designed to assess negative, positive, disorganized, and general psychiatric symptoms, as well as functional outcome. A battery of anhedonia questionnaires and neuropsychological tests were also administered. Results indicated that the BNSS has excellent internal consistency and temporal stability, as well as good convergent and discriminant validity in its relationships with other symptom rating scales, functional outcome, self-reported anhedonia, and neuropsychological test scores. Given its brevity (13-items, 15-minute interview) and good psychometric characteristics, the BNSS can be considered a promising new instrument for use in clinical trials. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Altered neural connectivity during response inhibition in adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and their unaffected siblings.

Science.gov (United States)

van Rooij, Daan; Hartman, Catharina A; Mennes, Maarten; Oosterlaan, Jaap; Franke, Barbara; Rommelse, Nanda; Heslenfeld, Dirk; Faraone, Stephen V; Buitelaar, Jan K; Hoekstra, Pieter J

2015-01-01

Response inhibition is one of the executive functions impaired in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Increasing evidence indicates that altered functional and structural neural connectivity are part of the neurobiological basis of ADHD. Here, we investigated if adolescents with ADHD show altered functional connectivity during response inhibition compared to their unaffected siblings and healthy controls. Response inhibition was assessed using the stop signal paradigm. Functional connectivity was assessed using psycho-physiological interaction analyses applied to BOLD time courses from seed regions within inferior- and superior frontal nodes of the response inhibition network. Resulting networks were compared between adolescents with ADHD (N = 185), their unaffected siblings (N = 111), and controls (N = 125). Control subjects showed stronger functional connectivity than the other two groups within the response inhibition network, while subjects with ADHD showed relatively stronger connectivity between default mode network (DMN) nodes. Stronger connectivity within the response inhibition network was correlated with lower ADHD severity, while stronger connectivity with the DMN was correlated with increased ADHD severity. Siblings showed connectivity patterns similar to controls during successful inhibition and to ADHD subjects during failed inhibition. Additionally, siblings showed decreased connectivity with the primary motor areas as compared to both participants with ADHD and controls. Subjects with ADHD fail to integrate activation within the response inhibition network and to inhibit connectivity with task-irrelevant regions. Unaffected siblings show similar alterations only during failed stop trials, as well as unique suppression of motor areas, suggesting compensatory strategies. These findings support the role of altered functional connectivity in understanding the neurobiology and familial transmission of ADHD.

Positive or negative Poynting effect? The role of adscititious inequalities in hyperelastic materials

KAUST Repository

Mihai, L. A.

2011-08-10

Motivated by recent experiments on biopolymer gels whereby the reverse of the usual (positive) Poynting effect was observed, we investigate the effect of the so-called \\'adscititious inequalities\\' on the behaviour of hyperelastic materials subject to shear. We first demonstrate that for homogeneous isotropic materials subject to pure shear, the resulting deformation consists of a triaxial stretch combined with a simple shear in the direction of the shear force if and only if the Baker-Ericksen inequalities hold. Then for a cube deformed under pure shear, the positive Poynting effect occurs if the \\'sheared faces spread apart\\', whereas the negative Poynting effect is obtained if the \\'sheared faces draw together\\'. Similarly, under simple shear deformation, the positive Poynting effect is obtained if the \\'sheared faces tend to spread apart\\', whereas the negative Poynting effect occurs if the \\'sheared faces tend to draw together\\'. When the Poynting effect occurs under simple shear, it is reasonable to assume that the same sign Poynting effect is btained also under pure shear. Since the observation of the negative Poynting effect in semiflexible biopolymers implies that the (stronger) empirical inequalities may not hold, we conclude that these inequalities must not be imposed when such materials are described. © 2011 The Royal Society.

Stereotype threat engenders neural attentional bias toward negative feedback to undermine performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Forbes, Chad E; Leitner, Jordan B

2014-10-01

Stereotype threat, a situational pressure individuals experience when they fear confirming a negative group stereotype, engenders a cascade of physiological stress responses, negative appraisals, and performance monitoring processes that tax working memory resources necessary for optimal performance. Less is known, however, about how stereotype threat biases attentional processing in response to performance feedback, and how such attentional biases may undermine performance. Women received feedback on math problems in stereotype threatening compared to stereotype-neutral contexts while continuous EEG activity was recorded. Findings revealed that stereotype threatened women elicited larger midline P100 ERPs, increased phase locking between anterior cingulate cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (two regions integral for attentional processes), and increased power in left fusiform gyrus in response to negative feedback compared to positive feedback and women in stereotype-neutral contexts. Increased power in left fusiform gyrus in response to negative feedback predicted underperformance on the math task among stereotype threatened women only. Women in stereotype-neutral contexts exhibited the opposite trend. Findings suggest that in stereotype threatening contexts, neural networks integral for attention and working memory are biased toward negative, stereotype confirming feedback at very early speeds of information processing. This bias, in turn, plays a role in undermining performance. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Anticipatory pleasure and approach motivation in schizophrenia-like negative symptoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Engel, Maike; Fritzsche, Anja; Lincoln, Tania M

2013-12-15

Previous research of negative symptoms in schizophrenia has emphasized an anticipatory pleasure deficit, yet the relationship of this deficit to patients' motivation in everyday life is poorly understood. This study tested the link between anticipatory pleasure and two broad motivational systems that are said to regulate the intensity of approach and avoidance behavior, the Behavioral Inhibition system (BIS) and the Behavioral Activation System (BAS). It was hypothesized that high vulnerability for negative symptoms would be associated with low reward responsiveness and that this association will be mediated by the amount of anticipated pleasure. Students (n=171) with varying vulnerability for negative symptoms (assessed by the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences) completed questionnaires regarding (a) anticipatory and consummatory pleasure, and (b) responsiveness to threat and reward. As hypothesized, anticipatory pleasure correlated significantly negatively with subclinical negative symptoms (r=-0.21) and significantly positively with BAS (r=0.55). Furthermore, evidence for a partial mediation effect was found. The findings support the notion of a close association between negative symptoms, the ability to anticipate pleasure and approach motivation that is evident even in healthy persons. It is suggested that the behavioral deficits immanent to negative symptoms reflect difficulties in the ability to translate emotions into motivation. © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mammary gene expression profiles during an intramammary challenge reveal potential mechanisms linking negative energy balance with impaired immune response

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Moyes, Kasey; Drackley, J K; Morin, D E

2010-01-01

Our objective was to compare mammary tissue gene expression profiles during a Streptococcus uberis (S. uberis) mastitis challenge between lactating cows subjected to dietary-induced negative energy balance (NEB; n = 5) and cows fed ad libitum to maintain positive energy balance (PEB; n = 5...... 0.05), with 86 DEG up-regulated and 201 DEG down-regulated. Canonical pathways most affected by NEB were IL-8 Signaling (10 genes), Glucocorticoid Receptor Signaling (13), and NRF2-mediated Oxidative Stress Response (10). Among genes differentially expressed by NEB, Cell Growth and Proliferation (48...

Radiobiological work using a negative pion beam at the Rutherford Laboratory 1971-76

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ellis, R.E.; Lindop, P.J.; Coggle, J.E.; Fraser, G.

1976-08-01

The subject is discussed in two sections: physics experiments (including, inter alia, dose measurement, LET distribution, radiation products of spallation); radiobiological studies (including separate reports as follows: review of experimental programme; some in vivo effects of negative pions in mice; survival and recovery of Hela cells in vitro; negative pion dose-response curves for frozen Hela cells; response of vicia faba to irradiation with negative pions; pion experiments with chromosome aberrations). (U.K.)

Processing negative valence of word pairs that include a positive word.

Science.gov (United States)

Itkes, Oksana; Mashal, Nira

2016-09-01

Previous research has suggested that cognitive performance is interrupted by negative relative to neutral or positive stimuli. We examined whether negative valence affects performance at the word or phrase level. Participants performed a semantic decision task on word pairs that included either a negative or a positive target word. In Experiment 1, the valence of the target word was congruent with the overall valence conveyed by the word pair (e.g., fat kid). As expected, response times were slower in the negative condition relative to the positive condition. Experiment 2 included target words that were incongruent with the overall valence of the word pair (e.g., fat salary). Response times were longer for word pairs whose overall valence was negative relative to positive, even though these word pairs included a positive word. Our findings support the Cognitive Primacy Hypothesis, according to which emotional valence is extracted after conceptual processing is complete.

Optical bulk and surface waves with negative refraction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agranovich, V.M.; Shen, Y.R.; Baughman, R.H.; Zakhidov, A.A.

2004-01-01

In materials with negative refraction, the direction of wave propagation is opposite to the direction of the wave vector. Using an approach that characterizes the optical response of a medium totally by a generalized dielectric permittivity, ε-bar (ω,k-bar), we discuss the possibility of seeing negative refraction for optical waves in a number of nonmagnetic media. These include bulk waves in organic materials and in gyrotropic materials where additional exciton-polariton waves can have a negative group velocity. It is known that dispersion of surface waves can be engineered by tailoring a surface transition layer. We show how this effect can be used to obtain surface waves with negative refraction

Cardiac Vagal Control and Depressive Symptoms in Response to Negative Emotional Stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Tonhajzerova, I; Visnovcova, Z; Mestanikova, A; Jurko, A; Mestanik, M

We aimed to study complex cardiovagal control using heart rate variability (HRV), linear and nonlinear analyses at rest and during negative emotional stress in healthy students with varying depressive symptoms. ECG recording in 20 students was performed at baseline, negative emotional stress, and recovery period. The HRV parameters evaluated were the following: RR interval, spectral power in high-frequency band (HF-HRV), and symbolic dynamics index 2LV%. The subjects were divided into two groups based on the score of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) - normal mood (BDI: 0.6 ± 0.2) and mild mood disturbance (BDI: 14.3 ± 1.4). We found significantly lower logHF-HRV during emotional stress in mild mood disturbance compared with normal mood (p = 0.047). No significant differences were found in the remaining parameters. We conclude that negative emotional stress attenuated the cardiovagal control during mood disturbance, which points to discrete abnormalities in the neurocardiac reflex system associated with depressive symptoms. Hampered cardiovagal control could represent a potential pathomechanism leading to depression-linked cardiovascular complications.

Physical activity and negative affective reactivity in daily life.

Science.gov (United States)

Puterman, Eli; Weiss, Jordan; Beauchamp, Mark R; Mogle, Jacqueline; Almeida, David M

2017-12-01

The results from experimental studies indicate that physically active individuals remain calmer and report less anxiety after the induction of a standardized stressor. The current study extends this research to real life, and examines whether daily physical activity attenuates negative affect that occurs in response to naturally occurring daily stressors. The current study used data from the second wave of the National Study of Daily Experiences, a sub-study of the second wave of the Midlife in the United States Study (MIDUS-II) of 2,022 individuals aged 33-84 questioned nightly for eight consecutive days about their general affect and affective responses to stressful events and their engagement in physical activity. Results indicated that while negative affect is significantly elevated on days with stressful events compared to days free of events in all individuals, these effects are attenuated in those who remain physically active when compared to those who were underactive. This was also true for any day participants were physically active. Importantly, negative affect in response to any specific stressor was reduced the closer in time that the stressor occurred to the bout of exercise in underactive participants, while, in active participants, negative affect in response to any stressor remained low throughout the entire day that participants reported that they were active. Given the significant mental and physical health implications of elevated affective reactivity observed in previous studies, the current study sheds further light on the importance of remaining physically active in times of stress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Why is the radial flow in central pA collisions stronger than in AA?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kalaydzhyan, Tigran; Shuryak, Edward

2014-01-01

Both the transverse size and entropy density per area in central pA collisions is smaller than in central AA, and yet the radial flow is stronger. We propose an explanation to this puzzle. Using a weak attraction between strings through the σ-meson exchange, fitted to the lattice data, we find collective implosion of the “spaghetti” multi-string state. Collectivization of the sigma field of the strings is the QCD analog of the black hole formation occurring in holographic models

Considering the context: social factors in responses to drugs in humans.

Science.gov (United States)

de Wit, Harriet; Sayette, Michael

2018-04-01

Drugs are typically used in social settings. Here, we consider two factors that may contribute to this observation: (i) the presence of other people may enhance the positive mood effects of a drug, and conversely, (ii) drugs may enhance the value of social stimuli. We review evidence from controlled laboratory studies with human volunteers, which investigated either of these interactions between social factors and responses to drugs. We examine the bidirectional effects of social stimuli and single doses of alcohol, stimulants, opioids, and cannabis. All four classes of drugs interact with social contexts, but the nature of these interactions varies across drugs, and depends on whether the context is positive or negative. Alcohol and stimulant drugs enhance the attractiveness of social stimuli and the desire to socialize, and social contexts, in turn, enhance these drugs' effects. In contrast, opioids and cannabis have subtler effects on social interactions and their effects are less influenced by the presence of others. Overall, there is stronger evidence that drugs enhance positive social contexts than that they dampen the negativity of unpleasant social settings. Controlled research is needed to understand the interactions between drugs of abuse and social contexts, to model and understand the determinants of drug use outside the laboratory.

No effect of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation over the motor cortex on response-related ERPs during a conflict task.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander Christian Conley

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS over the motor cortex is considered a potential treatment for motor rehabilitation following stroke and other neurological pathologies. However, both the context under which this stimulation is effective and the underlying mechanisms remain to be determined. In this study, we examined the mechanisms by which anodal tDCS may affect motor performance by recording event-related potentials (ERPs during a cued go/nogo task after anodal tDCS over dominant M1 in young adults (Experiment 1 and both dominant and non-dominant M1 in old adults (Experiment 2. In both experiments, anodal tDCS had no effect on either response time or response-related ERPs, including the cue-locked contingent negative variation (CNV and both target-locked and response-locked lateralised readiness potentials (LRP. Bayesian model selection analyses showed that, for all measures, the null effects model was stronger than a model including anodal tDCS vs. sham. We conclude that anodal tDCS has no effect on response time or response-related ERPs during a cued go/nogo task in either young or old adults.

On the foundations of corporate social responsibility

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Liang, Hao; Renneboog, Luc

Using corporate social responsibility (CSR) ratings for 23,000 companies from 114 countries, we find that a firm's CSR rating and its country's legal origin are strongly correlated. Legal origin is a stronger explanation than “doing good by doing well” factors or firm and country characteristics

Positive and negative affect as predictors of urge to smoke: temporal factors and mediational pathways.

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Leventhal, Adam M; Greenberg, Jodie B; Trujillo, Michael A; Ameringer, Katherine J; Lisha, Nadra E; Pang, Raina D; Monterosso, John

2013-03-01

Elucidating interrelations between prior affective experience, current affective state, and acute urge to smoke could inform affective models of addiction motivation and smoking cessation treatment development. This study tested the hypothesis that prior levels of positive (PA) and negative (NA) affect predict current smoking urge via a mediational pathway involving current state affect. We also explored if tobacco deprivation moderated affect-urge relations and compared the effects of PA and NA on smoking urge to one another. At a baseline session, smokers reported affect experienced over the preceding few weeks. At a subsequent experimental session, participants were randomly assigned to 12-hr tobacco deprived (n = 51) or nondeprived (n = 69) conditions and reported state affect and current urge. Results revealed a mediational pathway whereby prior NA reported at baseline predicted state NA at the experimental session, which in turn predicted current urge. This mediational pathway was found primarily for an urge subtype indicative of urgent need to smoke and desire to smoke for NA relief, was stronger in the deprived (vs. nondeprived) condition, and remained significant after controlling for PA. Prior PA and current state PA were inversely associated with current urge; however, these associations were eliminated after controlling for NA. These results cohere with negative reinforcement models of addiction and with prior research and suggest that: (a) NA plays a stronger role in smoking motivation than PA; (b) state affect is an important mechanism linking prior affective experience to current urge; and (c) affect management interventions may attenuate smoking urge in individuals with a history of affective disturbance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).

Rhesus factor modulation of effects of smoking and age on psychomotor performance, intelligence, personality profile, and health in Czech soldiers.

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Jaroslav Flegr

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Rhesus-positive and rhesus-negative persons differ in the presence-absence of highly immunogenic RhD protein on the erythrocyte membrane. This protein is a component of NH(3 or CO(2 pump whose physiological role is unknown. Several recent studies have shown that RhD positivity protects against effects of latent toxoplasmosis on motor performance and personality. It is not known, however, whether the RhD phenotype modifies exclusively the response of the body to toxoplasmosis or whether it also influences effects of other factors. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In the present cohort study, we searched for the effects of age and smoking on performance, intelligence, personality and self-estimated health and wellness in about 3800 draftees. We found that the positive effect of age on performance and intelligence was stronger in RhD-positive soldiers, while the negative effect of smoking on performance and intelligence was of similar size regardless of the RhD phenotype. The effect of age on four Cattell's personality factors, i.e., dominance (E, radicalism (Q(1, self-sentiment integration (Q(3, and ergic tension (Q(4, and on Cloninger's factor reward dependency (RD was stronger for RhD-negative than RhD-positive subjects, while the effect of smoking on the number of viral and bacterial diseases was about three times stronger for RhD-negative than RhD-positive subjects. CONCLUSIONS: RhD phenotype modulates the influence not only of latent toxoplasmosis, but also of at least two other potentially detrimental factors, age and smoking, on human behavior and physiology. The negative effect of smoking on health (estimated on the basis of the self-rated number of common viral and bacterial diseases in the past year was much stronger in RhD-negative than RhD-positive subjects. It is critically needed to confirm the differences in health response to smoking between RhD-positive and RhD-negative subjects by objective medical examination in

Common Genetic Influences on Negative Emotionality and a General Psychopathology Factor in Childhood and Adolescence

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Tackett, Jennifer L.; Lahey, Benjamin B.; Hulle, Carol Van; Waldman, Irwin; Krueger, Robert F.; Rathouz, Paul J.

2014-01-01

Previous research using confirmatory factor analysis to model psychopathology comorbidity supported the hypothesis of a broad general factor (i.e., a “bifactor”; Holzinger & Swineford, 1937) of psychopathology in children, adolescents, and adults, with more specific higher-order internalizing and externalizing factors reflecting additional shared variance in symptoms (Lahey et al., 2012; Lahey, Van Hulle, Singh, Waldman, & Rathouz, 2011). The psychological nature of this general factor has not been explored, however. The current study tests a prediction derived from the spectrum hypothesis of personality and psychopathology, that variance in a general psychopathology bifactor overlaps substantially—at both phenotypic and genetic levels—with the dispositional trait of negative emotionality. Data on psychopathology symptoms and dispositional traits were collected from both parents and youth in a representative sample of 1,569 twin pairs (ages 9–17) from Tennessee. Predictions based on the spectrum hypothesis were supported, with variance in negative emotionality and the general factor overlapping substantially at both phenotypic and etiologic levels. Furthermore, stronger correlations were found between negative emotionality and the general psychopathology factor than among other dispositions and other psychopathology factors. PMID:24364617

COMT Val158Met and 5-HT1A-R -1019 C/G polymorphisms: effects on the negative symptom response to clozapine.

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Bosia, Marta; Lorenzi, Cristina; Pirovano, Adele; Guglielmino, Carmelo; Cocchi, Federica; Spangaro, Marco; Bramanti, Placido; Smeraldi, Enrico; Cavallaro, Roberto

2015-01-01

Clozapine is still considered the gold standard for treatment-resistant schizophrenia patients; however, up to 40% of patients do not respond adequately. Identifying potential predictors of clinical response to this last-line antipsychotic could represent an important goal for treatment. Among these, functional polymorphisms involved in dopamine system modulation, known to be disrupted in schizophrenia, may play a role. We examined the COMT Val158Met polymorphism, which plays a key role in dopamine regulation at the prefrontal level, and the 5-HT1A-R -1019 C/G polymorphism, a target of clozapine activity involved in the interaction between the serotonin and dopamine systems. 107 neuroleptic-refractory, biologically unrelated Italian patients (70 males and 37 females) with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia who were being treated with clozapine were recruited. Psychopathology was assessed by the Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS) at the beginning of treatment, and at weeks 8 and 12. Genomic DNA was extracted from venous blood samples. COMT rs4680 (Val158Met) and 5-HT1A-R rs6295 (-1019 C/G) polymorphisms were analyzed by PCR-based restriction fragment length and direct sequencing, respectively. We found a significant effect of COMT and 5-HT1A-R on the PANSS Negative Subscale variation, with greater improvement among COMT Val/Val and 5-HT1A-R G/G subjects. The findings support the hypothesis that COMT rs4680 and 5-HT1A-R rs6295 polymorphisms could influence the negative symptom response to clozapine, probably through modulation of the dopaminergic system.

Long-term trajectories of positive and negative symptoms in first episode psychosis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Austin, Stephen; Mors, Ole; Budtz-Jørgensen, Esben

2015-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Knowledge about course of illness can help clinicians to develop effective interventions and improve treatment outcomes. The goal of this study was to construct positive and negative symptom trajectories based on structured clinical assessments collected over 10years within a cohort....... Positive symptoms showed a general pattern of reduction and stabilization over time while negative symptoms typically showed less variation over the ten years. Results have implications for the focus, timing and length of interventions in first episode psychosis....... was assessed using the Scales for Assessment of Positive and Negative Symptoms. Symptom trajectories were constructed using Latent Class Analysis. RESULTS: Five distinct trajectories were identified for positive symptoms (response - 47%, delayed response - 12%, relapse - 15%, non-response - 13% and episodic...

Relating specific emotions to intrinsic motivation: on the moderating role of positive and negative emotion differentiation.

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Vandercammen, Leen; Hofmans, Joeri; Theuns, Peter

2014-01-01

Despite the fact that studies on self-determination theory have traditionally disregarded the explicit role of emotions in the motivation eliciting process, research attention for the affective antecedents of motivation is growing. We add to this emerging research field by testing the moderating role of emotion differentiation -individual differences in the extent to which people can differentiate between specific emotions- on the relationship between twelve specific emotions and intrinsic motivation. To this end, we conducted a daily diary study (N = 72) and an experience sampling study (N = 34). Results showed that the relationship between enthusiasm, cheerfulness, optimism, contentedness, gloominess, miserableness, uneasiness (in both studies 1 and 2), calmness, relaxation, tenseness, depression, worry (only in Study 1) on one hand and intrinsic motivation on the other hand was moderated by positive emotion differentiation for the positive emotions and by negative emotion differentiation for the negative emotions. Altogether, these findings suggest that for people who are unable to distinguish between different specific positive emotions the relationship between those specific positive emotions and intrinsic motivation is stronger, whereas the relationship between specific negative emotions and intrinsic motivation is weaker for people who are able to distinguish between the different specific negative emotions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Relating Specific Emotions to Intrinsic Motivation: On the Moderating Role of Positive and Negative Emotion Differentiation

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Vandercammen, Leen; Hofmans, Joeri; Theuns, Peter

2014-01-01

Despite the fact that studies on self-determination theory have traditionally disregarded the explicit role of emotions in the motivation eliciting process, research attention for the affective antecedents of motivation is growing. We add to this emerging research field by testing the moderating role of emotion differentiation –individual differences in the extent to which people can differentiate between specific emotions– on the relationship between twelve specific emotions and intrinsic motivation. To this end, we conducted a daily diary study (N = 72) and an experience sampling study (N = 34). Results showed that the relationship between enthusiasm, cheerfulness, optimism, contentedness, gloominess, miserableness, uneasiness (in both studies 1 and 2), calmness, relaxation, tenseness, depression, worry (only in Study 1) on one hand and intrinsic motivation on the other hand was moderated by positive emotion differentiation for the positive emotions and by negative emotion differentiation for the negative emotions. Altogether, these findings suggest that for people who are unable to distinguish between different specific positive emotions the relationship between those specific positive emotions and intrinsic motivation is stronger, whereas the relationship between specific negative emotions and intrinsic motivation is weaker for people who are able to distinguish between the different specific negative emotions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. PMID:25517984

Relating specific emotions to intrinsic motivation: on the moderating role of positive and negative emotion differentiation.

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Leen Vandercammen

Full Text Available Despite the fact that studies on self-determination theory have traditionally disregarded the explicit role of emotions in the motivation eliciting process, research attention for the affective antecedents of motivation is growing. We add to this emerging research field by testing the moderating role of emotion differentiation -individual differences in the extent to which people can differentiate between specific emotions- on the relationship between twelve specific emotions and intrinsic motivation. To this end, we conducted a daily diary study (N = 72 and an experience sampling study (N = 34. Results showed that the relationship between enthusiasm, cheerfulness, optimism, contentedness, gloominess, miserableness, uneasiness (in both studies 1 and 2, calmness, relaxation, tenseness, depression, worry (only in Study 1 on one hand and intrinsic motivation on the other hand was moderated by positive emotion differentiation for the positive emotions and by negative emotion differentiation for the negative emotions. Altogether, these findings suggest that for people who are unable to distinguish between different specific positive emotions the relationship between those specific positive emotions and intrinsic motivation is stronger, whereas the relationship between specific negative emotions and intrinsic motivation is weaker for people who are able to distinguish between the different specific negative emotions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Auditory attention enhances processing of positive and negative words in inferior and superior prefrontal cortex.

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Wegrzyn, Martin; Herbert, Cornelia; Ethofer, Thomas; Flaisch, Tobias; Kissler, Johanna

2017-11-01

Visually presented emotional words are processed preferentially and effects of emotional content are similar to those of explicit attention deployment in that both amplify visual processing. However, auditory processing of emotional words is less well characterized and interactions between emotional content and task-induced attention have not been fully understood. Here, we investigate auditory processing of emotional words, focussing on how auditory attention to positive and negative words impacts their cerebral processing. A Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study manipulating word valence and attention allocation was performed. Participants heard negative, positive and neutral words to which they either listened passively or attended by counting negative or positive words, respectively. Regardless of valence, active processing compared to passive listening increased activity in primary auditory cortex, left intraparietal sulcus, and right superior frontal gyrus (SFG). The attended valence elicited stronger activity in left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and left SFG, in line with these regions' role in semantic retrieval and evaluative processing. No evidence for valence-specific attentional modulation in auditory regions or distinct valence-specific regional activations (i.e., negative > positive or positive > negative) was obtained. Thus, allocation of auditory attention to positive and negative words can substantially increase their processing in higher-order language and evaluative brain areas without modulating early stages of auditory processing. Inferior and superior frontal brain structures mediate interactions between emotional content, attention, and working memory when prosodically neutral speech is processed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Negative appraisals and fear extinction are independently related to PTSD symptoms.

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Zuj, Daniel V; Palmer, Matthew A; Gray, Kate E; Hsu, Chia-Ming K; Nicholson, Emma L; Malhi, Gin S; Bryant, Richard A; Felmingham, Kim L

2017-08-01

Considerable research has revealed impaired fear extinction to be a significant predictor of PTSD. Fear extinction is also considered the primary mechanism of exposure therapy, and a critical factor in PTSD recovery. The cognitive theory of PTSD proposes that symptoms persist due to excessive negative appraisals about the trauma and its sequelae. Research has not yet examined the relationship between fear extinction and negative appraisals in PTSD. A cross-sectional sample of participants with PTSD (n =21), and trauma-exposed controls (n =33) underwent a standardized differential fear conditioning and extinction paradigm, with skin conductance response (SCR) amplitude serving as the index of conditioned responses. The Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory (PTCI) was used to index catastrophic negative appraisals. Participants with PTSD demonstrated a slower decrease in overall SCR responses during extinction and greater negative appraisals compared to the group. A moderation analysis revealed that both negative trauma-relevant appraisals and fear extinction learning were independently associated with PTSD symptoms, but there was no moderation interaction. The current study was limited by a modest sample size, leading to the inclusion of participants with subclinical PTSD symptoms. Further, the current study only assessed fear extinction learning; including a second day extinction recall task may show alternative effects. These findings indicate that negative appraisals and fear extinction did not interact, but had independent relationships with PTSD symptoms. Here we show for the first time in an experimental framework that negative appraisals and fear extinction play separate roles in PTSD symptoms. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Do Consumers Expect Companies To Be Socially Responsible? The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Buying Behavior.

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Mohr, Lois A.; Webb, Deborah J.; Harris, Katherine E.

2001-01-01

Interviews with 48 consumers found that they desired moderate to high levels of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Precontemplators (n=16) did not base purchasing on CSR and contemplators (n=11) only moderately. The action group (n=8) had stronger beliefs about CSR but did not always purchase accordingly. Maintainers (n=9) practiced socially…

Photosynthetic temperature responses of tree species in Rwanda: evidence of pronounced negative effects of high temperature in montane rainforest climax species

Science.gov (United States)

Vårhammar, Angelica; Wallin, Göran; McLean, Christopher M.; Dusenge, Mirindi Eric; Medlyn, Belinda E.; Hasper, Thomas B.; Nsabimana, Donat; Uddling, Johan

2015-04-01

The sensitivity of photosynthetic metabolism to temperature has been identified as a key uncertainty for projecting the magnitude of the terrestrial feedback on future climate change. While temperature responses of photosynthetic capacities have been comparatively well investigated in temperate species, the responses of tropical tree species remain unexplored. We compared the responses of seedlings of native cold-adapted tropical montane rainforest tree species to exotic warm-adapted plantation species, all growing in an intermediate temperature common garden in Rwanda. Leaf gas exchange responses to CO2 at different temperatures (20 - 40 C) were used to assess the temperature responses of biochemical photosynthetic capacities. Analyses revealed a lower optimum temperature for photosynthetic electron transport rates than for Rubisco carboxylation rates, along with lower electron transport optima in the native cold-adapted than in the exotic warm-adapted species. The photosynthetic optimum temperatures were generally exceeded by daytime peak leaf temperatures, in particular in the native montane rainforest climax species. This study thus provides evidence of pronounced negative effects of high temperature in tropical trees and indicates high susceptibility of montane rainforest climax species to future global warming. (Reference: New Phytologist, in press)

Reduced object related negativity response indicates impaired auditory scene analysis in adults with autistic spectrum disorder

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Veema Lodhia

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Auditory Scene Analysis provides a useful framework for understanding atypical auditory perception in autism. Specifically, a failure to segregate the incoming acoustic energy into distinct auditory objects might explain the aversive reaction autistic individuals have to certain auditory stimuli or environments. Previous research with non-autistic participants has demonstrated the presence of an Object Related Negativity (ORN in the auditory event related potential that indexes pre-attentive processes associated with auditory scene analysis. Also evident is a later P400 component that is attention dependent and thought to be related to decision-making about auditory objects. We sought to determine whether there are differences between individuals with and without autism in the levels of processing indexed by these components. Electroencephalography (EEG was used to measure brain responses from a group of 16 autistic adults, and 16 age- and verbal-IQ-matched typically-developing adults. Auditory responses were elicited using lateralized dichotic pitch stimuli in which inter-aural timing differences create the illusory perception of a pitch that is spatially separated from a carrier noise stimulus. As in previous studies, control participants produced an ORN in response to the pitch stimuli. However, this component was significantly reduced in the participants with autism. In contrast, processing differences were not observed between the groups at the attention-dependent level (P400. These findings suggest that autistic individuals have difficulty segregating auditory stimuli into distinct auditory objects, and that this difficulty arises at an early pre-attentive level of processing.

Effect of workplace incivility on end-of-work negative affect: examining individual and organizational moderators in a daily diary study.

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Zhou, Zhiqing E; Yan, Yu; Che, Xin Xuan; Meier, Laurenz L

2015-01-01

Although previous studies have linked workplace incivility with various negative outcomes, they mainly focused on the long-term effects of chronic exposure to workplace incivility, whereas targets' short-term reactions to incivility episodes have been largely neglected. Using a daily diary design, the current study examined effects of daily workplace incivility on end-of-work negative affect and explored potential individual and organizational moderators. Data collected from 76 full-time employees across 10 consecutive working days revealed that daily workplace incivility positively predicted end-of-work negative affect while controlling for before-work negative affect. Further, the relationship was stronger for people with low emotional stability, high hostile attribution bias, external locus of control, and people experiencing low chronic workload and more chronic organizational constraints, as compared with people with high emotional stability, low hostile attribution bias, internal locus of control, and people experiencing high chronic workload and fewer chronic organizational constraints, respectively. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved). PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Trait Affect, Emotion Regulation, and the Generation of Negative and Positive Interpersonal Events.

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Hamilton, Jessica L; Burke, Taylor A; Stange, Jonathan P; Kleiman, Evan M; Rubenstein, Liza M; Scopelliti, Kate A; Abramson, Lyn Y; Alloy, Lauren B

2017-07-01

Positive and negative trait affect and emotion regulatory strategies have received considerable attention in the literature as predictors of psychopathology. However, it remains unclear whether individuals' trait affect is associated with responses to state positive affect (positive rumination and dampening) or negative affect (ruminative brooding), or whether these affective experiences contribute to negative or positive interpersonal event generation. Among 304 late adolescents, path analyses indicated that individuals with higher trait negative affect utilized dampening and brooding rumination responses, whereas those with higher trait positive affect engaged in rumination on positive affect. Further, there were indirect relationships between trait negative affect and fewer positive and negative interpersonal events via dampening, and between trait positive affect and greater positive and negative interpersonal events via positive rumination. These findings suggest that individuals' trait negative and positive affect may be associated with increased utilization of emotion regulation strategies for managing these affects, which may contribute to the occurrence of positive and negative events in interpersonal relationships. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

microRNA-124 negatively regulates TLR signaling in alveolar macrophages in response to mycobacterial infection.

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Ma, Chunyan; Li, Yong; Li, Min; Deng, Guangcun; Wu, Xiaoling; Zeng, Jin; Hao, Xiujing; Wang, Xiaoping; Liu, Jing; Cho, William C S; Liu, Xiaoming; Wang, Yujiong

2014-11-01

The emerging roles of microRNAs (miRNAs) in regulating immune responses have attracted increasing attention in recent years; and the alveolar macrophages (AMs) are the main targets of mycobacterial infection, which play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. However, the immunoregulatory role of miRNAs in AMs has not been fully demonstrated. In this study, we find that miR-124 is up-regulated in the peripheral leukocytes of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis; furthermore, the expression miR-124 can be induced upon Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) infection in both RAW264.7 AM cells in vitro and murine AMs in vivo. Mechanistically, miR-124 is able to modulate toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling activity in RAW264.7 cells in response to BCG infection. In this regard, multiple components of TLR signaling cascade, including the TLR6, myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88), TNFR-associated factor 6 and tumor necrosis factor-α are directly targeted by miR-124. In addition, both overexpression of TLR signaling adaptor MyD88 and BCG infection are able to augment miR-124 transcription, while MyD88 expression silenced by small interfering RNA dramatically suppresses miR-124 expression in AMs in vitro. Moreover, the abundance of miR-124 transcript in murine AMs of MyD88 deficient mice is significantly less than that of their wild-type or heterozygous littermates; and the BCG infection fails to induce miR-124 expression in the lung of MyD88 deficient mouse. These results indicate a negative regulatory role of miR-124 in fine-tuning inflammatory response in AMs upon mycobacterial infection, in part through a mechanism by directly targeting TLR signaling. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Age-related differences in affective responses to and memory for emotions conveyed by music: a cross-sectional study

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Sandrine eVieillard

2013-10-01

Full Text Available There is mounting evidence that aging is associated with the maintenance of positive affect and the decrease of negative affect to ensure emotion regulation goals. Previous empirical studies have primarily focused on a visual or autobiographical form of emotion communication. To date, little investigation has been done on musical emotions. The few studies that have addressed aging and emotions in music were mainly interested in emotion recognition, thus leaving unexplored the question of how aging may influence emotional responses to and memory for music. In the present study, eighteen older (60-84 years and eighteen younger (19-24 years listeners were asked to evaluate the strength of their experienced emotion on happy, peaceful, sad, and scary musical excerpts (Vieillard, et al., 2008 while facial muscle activity was recorded. Participants then performed an incidental recognition task followed by a task in which they judged to what extent they experienced happiness, peacefulness, sadness, and fear when listening to music. Compared to younger adults, older adults (a reported a stronger emotional reactivity for happiness than other emotion categories, (b showed an increased zygomatic activity for scary stimuli, (c were more likely to falsely recognize happy music, and (d showed a decrease in their responsiveness to sad and scary music. These results are in line with previous findings and extend them to emotion experience and memory recognition, corroborating the view of age-related changes in emotional responses to music in a positive direction away from negativity.

Age-related differences in affective responses to and memory for emotions conveyed by music: a cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Vieillard, Sandrine; Gilet, Anne-Laure

2013-01-01

There is mounting evidence that aging is associated with the maintenance of positive affect and the decrease of negative affect to ensure emotion regulation goals. Previous empirical studies have primarily focused on a visual or autobiographical form of emotion communication. To date, little investigation has been done on musical emotions. The few studies that have addressed aging and emotions in music were mainly interested in emotion recognition, thus leaving unexplored the question of how aging may influence emotional responses to and memory for emotions conveyed by music. In the present study, eighteen older (60-84 years) and eighteen younger (19-24 years) listeners were asked to evaluate the strength of their experienced emotion on happy, peaceful, sad, and scary musical excerpts (Vieillard et al., 2008) while facial muscle activity was recorded. Participants then performed an incidental recognition task followed by a task in which they judged to what extent they experienced happiness, peacefulness, sadness, and fear when listening to music. Compared to younger adults, older adults (a) reported a stronger emotional reactivity for happiness than other emotion categories, (b) showed an increased zygomatic activity for scary stimuli, (c) were more likely to falsely recognize happy music, and (d) showed a decrease in their responsiveness to sad and scary music. These results are in line with previous findings and extend them to emotion experience and memory recognition, corroborating the view of age-related changes in emotional responses to music in a positive direction away from negativity.

Contemplative/emotion training reduces negative emotional behavior and promotes prosocial responses.

Science.gov (United States)

Kemeny, Margaret E; Foltz, Carol; Cavanagh, James F; Cullen, Margaret; Giese-Davis, Janine; Jennings, Patricia; Rosenberg, Erika L; Gillath, Omri; Shaver, Phillip R; Wallace, B Alan; Ekman, Paul

2012-04-01

Contemplative practices are believed to alleviate psychological problems, cultivate prosocial behavior and promote self-awareness. In addition, psychological science has developed tools and models for understanding the mind and promoting well-being. Additional effort is needed to combine frameworks and techniques from these traditions to improve emotional experience and socioemotional behavior. An 8-week intensive (42 hr) meditation/emotion regulation training intervention was designed by experts in contemplative traditions and emotion science to reduce "destructive enactment of emotions" and enhance prosocial responses. Participants were 82 healthy female schoolteachers who were randomly assigned to a training group or a wait-list control group, and assessed preassessment, postassessment, and 5 months after training completion. Assessments included self-reports and experimental tasks to capture changes in emotional behavior. The training group reported reduced trait negative affect, rumination, depression, and anxiety, and increased trait positive affect and mindfulness compared to the control group. On a series of behavioral tasks, the training increased recognition of emotions in others (Micro-Expression Training Tool), protected trainees from some of the psychophysiological effects of an experimental threat to self (Trier Social Stress Test; TSST), appeared to activate cognitive networks associated with compassion (lexical decision procedure), and affected hostile behavior in the Marital Interaction Task. Most effects at postassessment that were examined at follow-up were maintained (excluding positive affect, TSST rumination, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia recovery). Findings suggest that increased awareness of mental processes can influence emotional behavior, and they support the benefit of integrating contemplative theories/practices with psychological models and methods of emotion regulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).

Planning what not to eat: ironic effects of implementation intentions negating unhealthy habits.

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Adriaanse, Marieke A; van Oosten, Johanna M F; de Ridder, Denise T D; de Wit, John B F; Evers, Catharine

2011-01-01

The present studies tested the effectiveness of implementation intentions with an "if [situation], then not [habitual response]" structure. Based on ironic process theory and the literature on the processing of negations, it was expected that these "negation implementation intentions" would, ironically, strengthen the habit (situation-response association) one aims to break. In line with the hypotheses, forming negation implementation intentions resulted in cognitive ironic rebound effects as well as behavioral ironic rebound effects compared to an intention only condition or a replacement implementation intention. Additionally, it was found that negation implementation intentions are most likely to result in ironic rebound effects when the habit to be negated is strong. Although implementation intentions are generally highly effective in facilitating behavior change even when this involves breaking unwanted habits, the present research suggests that they are ineffective when they have a negating structure.

Cognitive conflict increases processing of negative, task-irrelevant stimuli.

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Ligeza, Tomasz S; Wyczesany, Miroslaw

2017-10-01

The detection of cognitive conflict is thought to trigger adjustments in executive control. It has been recently shown that cognitive conflict increases processing of stimuli that are relevant to the ongoing task and that these modulations are exerted by the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). However, it is still unclear whether such control influences are unspecific and might also affect the processing of task-irrelevant stimuli. The aim of the study was to examine if cognitive conflict affects processing of neutral and negative, task-irrelevant pictures. Participants responded to congruent (non-conflict) or to incongruent (conflict-eliciting) trials of a modified flanker task. Each response was followed by a presentation of a neutral or negative picture. The late positive potential (LPP) in response to picture presentation was used to assess the level of picture processing after conflict vs non-conflict trials. Connectivity between the DLPFC and attentional and perceptual areas during picture presentation was analysed to check if the DLPFC might be a source of these modulations. ERP results showed an effect of cognitive conflict only on processing of negative pictures: LPP in response to negative pictures was increased after conflict trials, whereas LPP in response to neutral pictures remained unchanged. Cortical connectivity analysis showed that conflict trials intensified information flow from the DLPFC towards attentional and perceptual regions. Results suggest that cognitive conflict increases processing of task-irrelevant stimuli; however, they must display high biological salience. Increase in cognitive control exerted by the DLPFC over attentional and perceptual regions is a probable mechanism of the effect. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Negative symptoms in schizophrenia: psychotherapeutic approaches].

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Azorin, J-M; Adida, M; Belzeaux, R; Pringuey, D; Micoulaud Franchi, J-A; Simon, N; Cermolacce, M; Kaladjian, A; Fakra, E

2015-12-01

Although negative symptoms are recognized as a central feature of schizophrenia, their definition as well as phenomenology have long been a vexing issue. During these last years, a major progress has been made with the delineation of two underlying subdomains of negative symptoms: diminished expression and anhedonia-avolition-apathy. As current guidelines are not always in accord on the efficacy of treatments on negative symptoms, it may be tempting to re-interpret the findings of clinical trials by looking at the effects of treatments on these two subdomains. This could concern both psychotropic treatments and psychotherapeutic interventions. Furthermore, neuroimaging as well as emotional response studies have permitted to better understand the mechanism which could be at the root of diminished expression and anhedonia in schizophrenia. On this basis, new psychotherapeutic methods have been devised which, by specifically targeting these two subdomains, are likely to be more efficient on negative symptoms. Further research is warranted to test their efficacy in randomized controlled trials. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

"Stronger than the Storm": Keeping Infants and Young Children in Mind During the Response to Superstorm Sandy

Science.gov (United States)

Costa, Gerard; Mulrooney, Kathleen; Spinazzola, Nicci

2013-01-01

Superstorm Sandy hit the coast of New Jersey with deadly force causing hundreds of miles of coastline damage, loss of homes, property and road damage, and power outages throughout the region. despite the state's strong disaster response network, most programs and responders have little background in supporting the needs of infants and very young…

Isolation and molecular characterization of a urease-negative Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae mutant.

Science.gov (United States)

Ito, Hiroya; Takahashi, Sayaka; Asai, Tetsuo; Tamura, Yutaka; Yamamoto, Koshi

2018-01-01

An atypical urease-negative mutant of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae serovar 2 was isolated in Japan. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the urease gene cluster revealed that the insertion of a short DNA sequence into the cbiM gene was responsible for the urease-negative activity of the mutant. Veterinary diagnostic laboratories should be watchful for the presence of aberrant urease-negative A. pleuropneumoniae isolates.

Zeroing in on the dark side of the American Dream: a closer look at the negative consequences of the goal for financial success.

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Nickerson, Carol; Schwarz, Norbert; Diener, Ed; Kahneman, Daniel

2003-11-01

Recent research has demonstrated that aspiring to the American Dream of financial success has negative consequences for various aspects of psychological well-being. The present longitudinal study examining the relation between the goal for financial success, attainment of that goal, and satisfaction with various life domains found that the negative impact of the goal for financial success on overall life satisfaction diminished as household income increased. The negative consequences of the goal for financial success seemed to be limited to those specific life domains that either concerned relationships with other people or involved income-producing activities, such as one's job; satisfactions with two of those life domains, however, were among the strongest predictors of overall life satisfaction in this sample of well-educated respondents in their late 30s. The negative consequences were particularly severe for the domain of family life; the stronger the goal for financial success, the lower the satisfaction with family life, regardless of household income.

The ties that bind: Ingroup ties are linked with diminished inflammatory immune responses and fewer mental health symptoms through less rumination.

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Ysseldyk, Renate; McQuaid, Robyn J; McInnis, Opal A; Anisman, Hymie; Matheson, Kimberly

2018-01-01

The present research explored whether components of social identity, namely ingroup ties, affect, and centrality, were differentially linked to mental health and inflammatory immune responses, and whether rumination mediated those relations. Study 1 (N = 138) indicated that stronger ingroup ties were associated with fewer mental health (depressive and post-traumatic stress) symptoms; those relations were mediated by the tendency for individuals with strong ties to rely less on ruminative coping to deal with a stressful life event. Study 2 (N = 54) demonstrated that ingroup ties were negatively associated with depressive symptoms, dispositional rumination, as well as stress-linked inflammatory elements at the physiological level. Consistent associations for centrality and ingroup affect were absent, suggesting that ingroup ties may have unique health benefits.

Intensity response function of the photopic negative response (PhNR): effect of age and test-retest reliability.

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Joshi, Nabin R; Ly, Emma; Viswanathan, Suresh

2017-08-01

To assess the effect of age and test-retest reliability of the intensity response function of the full-field photopic negative response (PhNR) in normal healthy human subjects. Full-field electroretinograms (ERGs) were recorded from one eye of 45 subjects, and 39 of these subjects were tested on two separate days with a Diagnosys Espion System (Lowell, MA, USA). The visual stimuli consisted of brief (test-retest reliability was assessed with the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Bland-Altman analysis. Holm's correction was applied to account for multiple comparisons. V max of BT was significantly smaller than that of PT and b-wave, and the V max of PT and b-wave was not significantly different from each other. The slope parameter n was smallest for BT and the largest for b-wave and the difference between the slopes of all three measures were statistically significant. Small differences observed in the mean values of K for the different measures did not reach statistical significance. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test indicated no significant differences between the two test visits for any of the Naka-Rushton parameters for the three ERG measures, and the Bland-Altman plots indicated that the mean difference between test and retest measurements of the different fit parameters was close to zero and within 6% of the average of the test and retest values of the respective parameters for all three ERG measurements, indicating minimal bias. While the coefficient of reliability (COR, defined as 1.96 times the standard deviation of the test and retest difference) of each fit parameter was more or less comparable across the three ERG measurements, the %COR (COR normalized to the mean test and retest measures) was generally larger for BT compared to both PT and b-wave for each fit parameter. The Naka-Rushton fit parameters did not show statistically significant changes with age for any of the ERG measures when corrections were applied for multiple comparisons. However, the V max of

Description and predictors of positive and negative alcohol-related consequences in the first year of college.

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Barnett, Nancy P; Clerkin, Elise M; Wood, Mark; Monti, Peter M; O'Leary Tevyaw, Tracy; Corriveau, Donald; Fingeret, Allan; Kahler, Christopher W

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to establish the frequency of positive and negative alcohol-related consequences during the first year of college and to evaluate gender, race/ethnicity, time of year, alcohol use, and intoxication as predictors of consequences using frequent assessments. Participants (N = 1,053; 57.5% female) completed biweekly assessments of alcohol use and positive and negative alcohol-related consequences throughout the year. The majority of drinkers reported both positive and negative consequences. Having a good time and feeling less stressed were the most commonly reported positive consequences. Blackouts and getting physically sick were the most commonly endorsed negative consequences. At the weekly level, number of drinking days, drinks per drinking day, and estimated blood alcohol concentration (eBAC, reflecting intoxication) were significantly related to all consequences after controlling for demographics and time of year. Negative consequences had stronger associations with number of drinks and eBAC than positive consequences did. With each additional drink consumed on a drinking day, the incidence of negative consequences more than doubled (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 2.34, 95% CI [2.19, 2.50]), whereas the incidence of positive consequences increased by about half (IRR = 1.51, 95% CI [1.47, 1.56]). The consequence with the largest gender difference was regretted sex, with women reporting it more often. Few racial/ethnic differences were found in report of negative consequences. Greater positive and negative consequences were endorsed at the beginning of both academic semesters. As number of drinks and eBAC increase, the relative odds of a negative consequence are higher than that of a positive consequence. Alcohol interventions could promote greater awareness of the likelihood of specific consequences and could highlight that positive consequences are associated with lower levels of drinking.

Adaptive response and genomic instability: allosteric response of genome to negative impact

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sasaki, Masao S.

2010-01-01

Currently, there is an upsurge concern on the unique response of living cells to low dose ionizing radiation for its inconformity to the existing paradigm of the biological action of radiation and its impact on the current understanding of risk evaluation of health effect of radiation in our workplace and environment. For the allosteric response to have significance, the cells must have an excellent sensing mechanism to discriminate tolerable and intolerable signals. In a series of experiments with mammalian, including human, cells, we demonstrated a novel sensing and signaling mechanism in the low-dose irradiated cells that was mediated by a PKCα-p3BMAPK-PLCδ1 feedback regulatory loop. Upon irradiation, PKCα is immediately activated, which in turn activate p38MAPK. The activation of p38MAPK is feedbacked to the activation of PKCα via PLCδ1, which catalyzes the hydrolysis of PtdInsP2 to generate PKCα-directed second messengers DAG and lnsP3. At low doses, the PKCα and p38MAPK continue to be activated for long time through this feedback loop, but when the cells encounter the high dose (>10 cGy or equivalent), the feedback loop is immediately comes to shutdown by deprivation of PKCα protein, known as down-regulation of PKC signaling. Thus, PKCα plays a key role in the long lasting nature of adaptive response to low doses and a binary switch to the genomic instability by too much signals. Tumor suppressor protein, p53, is a downstream effecter

Cold-season atmospheric response to the natural variability of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation

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Gastineau, Guillaume; Frankignoul, Claude [LOCEAN/IPSL, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, 4 place Jussieu, BP100, Paris Cedex 05 (France)

2012-07-15

The influence of the natural variability of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) on the atmosphere is studied in multi-centennial simulations of six global climate models, using Maximum Covariance Analysis (MCA). In all models, a significant but weak influence of the AMOC changes is found during the Northern Hemisphere cold-season, when the ocean leads the atmosphere by a few years. Although the oceanic pattern slightly varies, an intensification of the AMOC is followed in all models by a weak sea level pressure response that resembles a negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The signal amplitude is typically 0.5 hPa and explains about 10% of the yearly variability of the NAO in all models. The atmospheric response seems to be due primarily due to an increase of the heat loss along the North Atlantic Current and the subpolar gyre, associated with an AMOC-driven warming. Sea-ice changes appear to be less important. The stronger heating is associated to a southward shift of the lower-tropospheric baroclinicity and a decrease of the eddy activity in the North Atlantic storm track, which is consistent with the equivalent barotropic perturbation resembling the negative phase of the NAO. This study thus provides some evidence of an atmospheric signature of the AMOC in the cold-season, which may have some implications for the decadal predictability of climate in the North Atlantic region. (orig.)

Discussion paper : proposed adjustments to the governance of Canada's marine oil spill preparedness and response regime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-12-01

A series of changes have been proposed for Canada's current marine oil spill preparedness and response regimes which were established in August 1995 in an effort to develop a more integrated approach to managing oil spill preparedness and response. The proposed amendments aim to address the deficiencies of the regime through some regulatory change, a stronger accountability structure, and clear management guidelines. Some of the issues that should be addressed to strengthen the effectiveness of the regime as a whole include: (1) transparency of response organization (RO) preparedness and response fees, (2) level of wildlife contingency planning, (3) payment of Canadian Coast Guard response costs, and (4) ensuring a strong national system of preparedness and response. In terms of governance, a stronger role is recommended for the Regional Advisory Councils. The establishment of a User Committee and of a National Advisory Council are also recommended. figs

Healthy full-term infants' brain responses to emotionally and linguistically relevant sounds using a multi-feature mismatch negativity (MMN) paradigm.

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Kostilainen, Kaisamari; Wikström, Valtteri; Pakarinen, Satu; Videman, Mari; Karlsson, Linnea; Keskinen, Maria; Scheinin, Noora M; Karlsson, Hasse; Huotilainen, Minna

2018-03-23

We evaluated the feasibility of a multi-feature mismatch negativity (MMN) paradigm in studying auditory processing of healthy newborns. The aim was to examine the automatic change-detection and processing of semantic and emotional information in speech in newborns. Brain responses of 202 healthy newborns were recorded with a multi-feature paradigm including a Finnish bi-syllabic pseudo-word/ta-ta/as a standard stimulus, six linguistically relevant deviant stimuli and three emotionally relevant stimuli (happy, sad, angry). Clear responses to emotional sounds were found already at the early latency window 100-200 ms, whereas responses to linguistically relevant minor changes and emotional stimuli at the later latency window 300-500 ms did not reach significance. Moreover, significant interaction between gender and emotional stimuli was found in the early latency window. Further studies on using multi-feature paradigms with linguistic and emotional stimuli in newborns are needed, especially those containing of follow-ups, enabling the assessment of the predictive value of early variations between subjects. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Once the rockets are up, who should care where they come down? The problem of responsibility ascription for the negative consequences of biofuel innovations.

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Tempels, T H; Van den Belt, H

2016-01-01

Responsible Innovation (RI) is often heralded in EU policy circles as a means to achieve ethically acceptable, sustainable innovations. Yet, conceptual questions on the specific notion of 'responsibility' and to what extent an innovation can be 'responsible' are only partly addressed. In this chapter the question of responsibility for the indirect negative effects of biofuel innovations is explored. While initially hailed as one of the much needed solutions in the global struggle against climate change, the use of biofuels has become increasingly criticised. It is argued that the increased production of biofuels has put smallholder farmers out of business, has given rise to increased food prices, sparking food riots in several countries, while also contributing to further environmental degradation as the demand for new biofuels requires the development of new croplands at the cost of forests and peat lands. In the current market-based system it is customary to disburden researchers and business companies from any responsibility for the more remote consequences of their actions. When harmful consequences are brought about through the mediation of (perhaps a long series of) market transactions, they are often considered inevitable and excusable and not an appropriate occasion for invoking anybody's responsibility. But how broad is the scope of responsibility when it comes to the above mentioned social and ecological problems? By invoking the sacred duty to "innovate", the business company could perhaps be exculpated. In our age, innovation is often so much celebrated that many negative impacts are duly accepted as the inevitable price of progress. By approaching responsibility from a perspective that takes into account the economic and ecological interconnectedness of the world, we show how the debate on Responsible Innovation in biofuels becomes tied in with global debates on economic justice and bioscarcity. In conclusion we argue that if we-assuming this

Cardiovascular response to lower body negative pressure stimulation before, during, and after space flight

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Baisch, F.; Beck, L.; Blomqvist, G.; Wolfram, G.; Drescher, J.; Rome, J. L.; Drummer, C.

2000-01-01

BACKGROUND: It is well known that space travel cause post-flight orthostatic hypotension and it was assumed that autonomic cardiovascular control deteriorates in space. Lower body negative pressure (LBNP) was used to assess autonomic function of the cardiovascular system. METHODS: LBNP tests were performed on six crew-members before and on the first days post-flight in a series of three space missions. Additionally, two of the subjects performed LBNP tests in-flight. LBNP mimics fluid distribution of upright posture in a gravity independent way. It causes an artificial sequestration of blood, reduces preload, and filtrates plasma into the lower part of the body. Fluid distribution was assessed by bioelectrical impedance and anthropometric measurements. RESULTS: Heart rate, blood pressure, and total peripheral resistance increased significantly during LBNP experiments in-flight. The decrease in stroke volume, the increased pooling of blood, and the increased filtration of plasma into the lower limbs during LBNP indicated that a plasma volume reduction and a deficit of the interstitial volume of lower limbs rather than a change in cardiovascular control was responsible for the in-flight response. Post-flight LBNP showed no signs of cardiovascular deterioration. The still more pronounced haemodynamic changes during LBNP reflected the expected behaviour of cardiovascular control faced with less intravascular volume. In-flight, the status of an intra-and extravascular fluid deficit increases sympathetic activity, the release of vasoactive substances and consequently blood pressure. Post-flight, blood pressure decreases significantly below pre-flight values after restoration of volume deficits. CONCLUSION: We conclude that the cardiovascular changes in-flight are a consequence of a fluid deficit rather than a consequence of changes in autonomic signal processing.

Phytohormone and Putative Defense Gene Expression Differentiates the Response of ‘Hayward’ Kiwifruit to Psa and Pfm Infections

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Kirstin V. Wurms

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa and Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidifoliorum (Pfm are closely related pathovars infecting kiwifruit, but Psa is considered one of the most important global pathogens, whereas Pfm is not. In this study of Actinidia deliciosa ‘Hayward’ responses to the two pathovars, the objective was to test whether differences in plant defense responses mounted against the two pathovars correlated with the contrasting severity of the symptoms caused by them. Results showed that Psa infections were always more severe than Pfm infections, and were associated with highly localized, differential expression of phytohormones and putative defense gene transcripts in stem tissue closest to the inoculation site. Phytohormone concentrations of jasmonic acid (JA, jasmonate isoleucine (JA-Ile, salicylic acid (SA and abscisic acid were always greater in stem tissue than in leaves, and leaf phytohormones were not affected by pathogen inoculation. Pfm inoculation induced a threefold increase in SA in stems relative to Psa inoculation, and a smaller 1.6-fold induction of JA. Transcript expression showed no effect of inoculation in leaves, but Pfm inoculation resulted in the greatest elevation of the SA marker genes, PR1 and glucan endo-1,3-beta-glucosidase (β-1,3-glucosidase (32- and 25-fold increases, respectively in stem tissue surrounding the inoculation site. Pfm inoculation also produced a stronger response than Psa inoculation in localized stem tissue for the SA marker gene PR6, jasmonoyl-isoleucine-12-hydrolase (JIH1, which acts as a negative marker of the JA pathway, and APETALA2/Ethylene response factor 2 transcription factor (AP2 ERF2, which is involved in JA/SA crosstalk. WRKY40 transcription factor (a SA marker was induced equally in stems by wounding (mock inoculation and pathovar inoculation. Taken together, these results suggest that the host appears to mount a stronger, localized, SA-based defense response to Pfm

Making muscles "stronger": exercise, nutrition, drugs.

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Aagaard, P

2004-06-01

As described in this review, maximal muscle strength is strongly influenced by resistive-types of exercise, which induce adaptive changes in both neuromuscular function and muscle morphology. Further, timed intake of protein in conjunction with resistance training elicit greater strength and muscle size gains than resistance training alone. Creatine supplementation amplifies the hypertrophic response to resistance training, although some individuals may not respond positively. Locally produced muscle growth factors are upregulated during creatine supplementation, which contributes to increase the responsiveness of muscle cells to intensive training stimuli. Usage of anabolic steroids boosts muscle hypertrophy beyond inherent genetical limits, not only by increasing the DNA transcription rate for myofibrillar proteins but also by increasing the nucleus-to-cytoplasm ratio due to accelerated activation of myogenic satellite cells. However, severe tissue damaging effects exist with anabolic steroids, some of which are irreversible.

Negativity Bias in Media Multitasking: The Effects of Negative Social Media Messages on Attention to Television News Broadcasts.

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Kätsyri, Jari; Kinnunen, Teemu; Kusumoto, Kenta; Oittinen, Pirkko; Ravaja, Niklas

2016-01-01

Television viewers' attention is increasingly more often divided between television and "second screens", for example when viewing television broadcasts and following their related social media discussion on a tablet computer. The attentional costs of such multitasking may vary depending on the ebb and flow of the social media channel, such as its emotional contents. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that negative social media messages would draw more attention than similar positive messages. Specifically, news broadcasts were presented in isolation and with simultaneous positive or negative Twitter messages on a tablet to 38 participants in a controlled experiment. Recognition memory, gaze tracking, cardiac responses, and self-reports were used as attentional indices. The presence of any tweets on the tablet decreased attention to the news broadcasts. As expected, negative tweets drew longer viewing times and elicited more attention to themselves than positive tweets. Negative tweets did not, however, decrease attention to the news broadcasts. Taken together, the present results demonstrate a negativity bias exists for social media messages in media multitasking; however, this effect does not amplify the overall detrimental effects of media multitasking.

Negativity Bias in Media Multitasking: The Effects of Negative Social Media Messages on Attention to Television News Broadcasts.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jari Kätsyri

Full Text Available Television viewers' attention is increasingly more often divided between television and "second screens", for example when viewing television broadcasts and following their related social media discussion on a tablet computer. The attentional costs of such multitasking may vary depending on the ebb and flow of the social media channel, such as its emotional contents. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that negative social media messages would draw more attention than similar positive messages. Specifically, news broadcasts were presented in isolation and with simultaneous positive or negative Twitter messages on a tablet to 38 participants in a controlled experiment. Recognition memory, gaze tracking, cardiac responses, and self-reports were used as attentional indices. The presence of any tweets on the tablet decreased attention to the news broadcasts. As expected, negative tweets drew longer viewing times and elicited more attention to themselves than positive tweets. Negative tweets did not, however, decrease attention to the news broadcasts. Taken together, the present results demonstrate a negativity bias exists for social media messages in media multitasking; however, this effect does not amplify the overall detrimental effects of media multitasking.

Individual differences in response to positive and negative stimuli: endocannabinoid-based insight on approach and avoidance behaviors

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Daniela eLaricchiuta

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Approach and avoidance behaviors - the primary responses to the environmental stimuli of danger, novelty and reward - are associated with the brain structures that mediate cognitive functionality, reward sensitivity and emotional expression. Individual differences in approach and avoidance behaviors are modulated by the functioning of amygdaloid-hypothalamic-striatal and striatal-cerebellar networks implicated in action and reaction to salient stimuli. The nodes of these networks are strongly interconnected and by acting on them the endocannabinoid and dopaminergic systems increase the intensity of appetitive or defensive motivation. This review analyzes the approach and avoidance behaviors in humans and rodents, addresses neurobiological and neurochemical aspects of these behaviors, and proposes a possible synaptic plasticity mechanism, related to endocannabinoid-dependent long-term potentiation and depression that allows responding to salient positive and negative stimuli.

Intra-specific variations in expression of stress-related genes in beech progenies are stronger than drought-induced responses.

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Carsjens, Caroline; Nguyen Ngoc, Quynh; Guzy, Jonas; Knutzen, Florian; Meier, Ina Christin; Müller, Markus; Finkeldey, Reiner; Leuschner, Christoph; Polle, Andrea

2014-12-01

Rapidly decreasing water availability as a consequence of climate change is likely to endanger the range of long-lived tree species. A pressing question is, therefore, whether adaptation to drought exists in important temperate tree species like European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), a wide-spread, dominant forest tree in Central Europe. Here, five beech stands were selected along a precipitation gradient from moist to dry conditions. Neutral genetic markers revealed strong variation within and little differentiation between the populations. Natural regeneration from these stands was transferred to a common garden and used to investigate the expression of genes for abscisic acid (ABA)-related drought signaling [9-cis-epoxy-dioxygenase (NCED), protein phosphatase 2C (PP2C), early responsive to dehydration (ERD)] and stress protection [ascorbate peroxidase (APX), superoxide dismutase (SOD), aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), glutamine amidotransferase (GAT)] that are involved in drought acclimation. We hypothesized that progenies from dry sites exhibit constitutively higher expression levels of ABA- and stress-related genes and are less drought responsive than progenies from moist sites. Transcript levels and stress responses (leaf area loss, membrane integrity) of well-irrigated and drought-stressed plants were measured during the early, mid- and late growing season. Principal component (PC) analysis ordered the beech progenies according to the mean annual precipitation at tree origin by the transcript levels of SOD, ALDH, GAT and ERD as major loadings along PC1. PC2 separated moist and drought treatments with PP2C levels as important loading. These results suggest that phosphatase-mediated signaling is flexibly acclimated to the current requirements, whereas stress compensatory measures exhibited genotypic variation, apparently underlying climate selection. In contrast to expectation, the drought responses were less pronounced than the progeny-related differences and the

Photosynthetic temperature responses of tree species in Rwanda: evidence of pronounced negative effects of high temperature in montane rainforest climax species.

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Vårhammar, Angelica; Wallin, Göran; McLean, Christopher M; Dusenge, Mirindi Eric; Medlyn, Belinda E; Hasper, Thomas B; Nsabimana, Donat; Uddling, Johan

2015-05-01

The sensitivity of photosynthetic metabolism to temperature has been identified as a key uncertainty for projecting the magnitude of the terrestrial feedback on future climate change. While temperature responses of photosynthetic capacities have been comparatively well investigated in temperate species, the responses of tropical tree species remain unexplored. We compared the responses of seedlings of native cold-adapted tropical montane rainforest tree species with those of exotic warm-adapted plantation species, all growing in an intermediate temperature common garden in Rwanda. Leaf gas exchange responses to carbon dioxide (CO2 ) at different temperatures (20-40°C) were used to assess the temperature responses of biochemical photosynthetic capacities. Analyses revealed a lower optimum temperature for photosynthetic electron transport rates than for Rubisco carboxylation rates, along with lower electron transport optima in the native cold-adapted than in the exotic warm-adapted species. The photosynthetic optimum temperatures were generally exceeded by daytime peak leaf temperatures, in particular in the native montane rainforest climax species. This study thus provides evidence of pronounced negative effects of high temperature in tropical trees and indicates high susceptibility of montane rainforest climax species to future global warming. © 2015 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2015 New Phytologist Trust.

Which global stock indices trigger stronger contagion risk in the Vietnamese stock market? Evidence using a bivariate analysis

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Wang Kuan-Min

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper extends recent investigations into risk contagion effects on stock markets to the Vietnamese stock market. Daily data spanning October 9, 2006 to May 3, 2012 are sourced to empirically validate the contagion effects between stock markets in Vietnam, and China, Japan, Singapore, and the US. To facilitate the validation of contagion effects with market-related coefficients, this paper constructs a bivariate EGARCH model of dynamic conditional correlation coefficients. Using the correlation contagion test and Dungey et al.’s (2005 contagion test, we find contagion effects between the Vietnamese and four other stock markets, namely Japan, Singapore, China, and the US. Second, we show that the Japanese stock market causes stronger contagion risk in the Vietnamese stock market compared to the stock markets of China, Singapore, and the US. Finally, we show that the Chinese and US stock markets cause weaker contagion effects in the Vietnamese stock market because of stronger interdependence effects between the former two markets.

Negative-assortative mating for color in wolves.

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Hedrick, Philip W; Smith, Douglas W; Stahler, Daniel R

2016-04-01

There is strong negative-assortative mating for gray and black pelage color in the iconic wolves in Yellowstone National Park. This is the first documented case of significant negative-assortative mating in mammals and one of only a very few cases in vertebrates. Of 261 matings documented from 1995 to 2015, 63.6% were between gray and black wolves and the correlation between mates for color was -0.266. There was a similar excess of matings of both gray males × black females and black males × gray females. Using the observed frequency of negative-assortative mating in a model with both random and negative-assortative mating, the estimated proportion of negative-assortative mating was 0.430. The estimated frequency of black wolves in the population from 1996 to 2014 was 0.452 and these frequencies appear stable over this 19-year period. Using the estimated level of negative-assortative mating, the predicted equilibrium frequency of the dominant allele was 0.278, very close to the mean value of 0.253 observed. In addition, the patterns of genotype frequencies, that is, the observed proportion of black homozygotes and the observed excess of black heterozygotes, are consistent with negative-assortative mating. Importantly these results demonstrate that negative-assortative mating could be entirely responsible for the maintenance of this well-known color polymorphism. © 2016 The Author(s). Evolution © 2016 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

SALT-RESPONSIVE ERF1 is a negative regulator of grain filling and gibberellin-mediated seedling establishment in rice.

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Schmidt, Romy; Schippers, Jos H M; Mieulet, Delphine; Watanabe, Mutsumi; Hoefgen, Rainer; Guiderdoni, Emmanuel; Mueller-Roeber, Bernd

2014-02-01

Grain quality is an important agricultural trait that is mainly determined by grain size and composition. Here, we characterize the role of the rice transcription factor (TF) SALT-RESPONSIVE ERF1 (SERF1) during grain development. Through genome-wide expression profiling and chromatin immunoprecipitation, we found that SERF1 directly regulates RICE PROLAMIN-BOX BINDING FACTOR (RPBF), a TF that functions as a positive regulator of grain filling. Loss of SERF1 enhances RPBF expression resulting in larger grains with increased starch content, while SERF1 overexpression represses RPBF resulting in smaller grains. Consistently, during grain filling, starch biosynthesis genes such as GRANULE-BOUND STARCH SYNTHASEI (GBSSI), STARCH SYNTHASEI (SSI), SSIIIa, and ADP-GLUCOSE PYROPHOSPHORYLASE LARGE SUBUNIT2 (AGPL2) are up-regulated in SERF1 knockout grains. Moreover, SERF1 is a direct upstream regulator of GBSSI. In addition, SERF1 negatively regulates germination by controlling RPBF expression, which mediates the gibberellic acid (GA)-induced expression of RICE AMYLASE1A (RAmy1A). Loss of SERF1 results in more rapid seedling establishment, while SERF1 overexpression has the opposite effect. Our study reveals that SERF1 represents a negative regulator of grain filling and seedling establishment by timing the expression of RPBF.

Negative social acts and pain: evidence of a workplace bullying and 5-HTT genotype interaction.

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Jacobsen, Daniel Pitz; Nielsen, Morten Birkeland; Einarsen, Ståle; Gjerstad, Johannes

2018-05-01

Objectives Long-term exposure to systematic negative acts at work, usually labeled workplace bullying, is a prevalent problem at many workplaces. The adverse effects of such exposure may range from psychological symptoms, such as depression and anxiety to somatic ailments like cardiovascular disease and musculoskeletal complaints. In this study, we examined the relationships among exposure to negative acts, genetic variability in the 5-HTT gene SLC6A4 and pain. Methods The study was based on a nationally representative survey of 987 Norwegian employees drawn from the Norwegian Central Employee Register by Statistics Norway. Exposure to bullying in the workplace was measured with the 9-item version of the Negative Acts Questionnaire - Revised (NAQ-R) inventory. Pain was rated using an 11-point (0-10) numeric rating scale (NRS). Genotyping with regard to SLC6A4 was carried out using a combination of gel-electrophoresis and TaqMan assay. Results The data revealed a significant interaction between exposure to negative acts and the SLC6A4 genotype with regard to pain (linear regression with 5000 resamples; age, sex, tobacco use and education were included as covariates). The relationship between negative acts and pain intensity was significantly stronger for subjects with the LALA genotype than for subjects with the SLA/LALG/SLG genotype. No significant difference between subjects with the LALA genotype and SS genotype was observed. Conclusions Our data demonstrated that the relationship between bullying and pain was modified by the 5-HTT genotype, ie, genetic variation in SLC6A4. The association between negative acts and health among vulnerable individuals appeared more potent than previously reported.

The IDA-LIKE peptides IDL6 and IDL7 are negative modulators of stress responses in Arabidopsis thaliana.

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Vie, Ane Kjersti; Najafi, Javad; Winge, Per; Cattan, Ester; Wrzaczek, Michael; Kangasjärvi, Jaakko; Miller, Gad; Brembu, Tore; Bones, Atle M

2017-06-15

Small signalling peptides have emerged as important cell to cell messengers in plant development and stress responses. However, only a few of the predicted peptides have been functionally characterized. Here, we present functional characterization of two members of the IDA-LIKE (IDL) peptide family in Arabidopsis thaliana, IDL6 and IDL7. Localization studies suggest that the peptides require a signal peptide and C-terminal processing to be correctly transported out of the cell. Both IDL6 and IDL7 appear to be unstable transcripts under post-transcriptional regulation. Treatment of plants with synthetic IDL6 and IDL7 peptides resulted in down-regulation of a broad range of stress-responsive genes, including early stress-responsive transcripts, dominated by a large group of ZINC FINGER PROTEIN (ZFP) genes, WRKY genes, and genes encoding calcium-dependent proteins. IDL7 expression was rapidly induced by hydrogen peroxide, and idl7 and idl6 idl7 double mutants displayed reduced cell death upon exposure to extracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). Co-treatment of the bacterial elicitor flg22 with IDL7 peptide attenuated the rapid ROS burst induced by treatment with flg22 alone. Taken together, our results suggest that IDL7, and possibly IDL6, act as negative modulators of stress-induced ROS signalling in Arabidopsis. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.

A configural dominant account of contextual cueing: Configural cues are stronger than colour cues.

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Kunar, Melina A; John, Rebecca; Sweetman, Hollie

2014-01-01

Previous work has shown that reaction times to find a target in displays that have been repeated are faster than those for displays that have never been seen before. This learning effect, termed "contextual cueing" (CC), has been shown using contexts such as the configuration of the distractors in the display and the background colour. However, it is not clear how these two contexts interact to facilitate search. We investigated this here by comparing the strengths of these two cues when they appeared together. In Experiment 1, participants searched for a target that was cued by both colour and distractor configural cues, compared with when the target was only predicted by configural information. The results showed that the addition of a colour cue did not increase contextual cueing. In Experiment 2, participants searched for a target that was cued by both colour and distractor configuration compared with when the target was only cued by colour. The results showed that adding a predictive configural cue led to a stronger CC benefit. Experiments 3 and 4 tested the disruptive effects of removing either a learned colour cue or a learned configural cue and whether there was cue competition when colour and configural cues were presented together. Removing the configural cue was more disruptive to CC than removing colour, and configural learning was shown to overshadow the learning of colour cues. The data support a configural dominant account of CC, where configural cues act as the stronger cue in comparison to colour when they are presented together.

Molecular essence and endocrine responsiveness of estrogen receptor-negative, progesterone receptor-positive, and HER2-negative breast cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Ke-Da; Jiang, Yi-Zhou; Hao, Shuang; Shao, Zhi-Ming

2015-10-05

The clinical significance of progesterone receptor (PgR) expression in estrogen receptor-negative (ER-) breast cancer is controversial. Herein, we systemically investigate the clinicopathologic features, molecular essence, and endocrine responsiveness of ER-/PgR+/HER2- phenotype. Four study cohorts were included. The first and second cohorts were from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database (n = 67,932) and Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center (n = 2,338), respectively, for clinicopathologic and survival analysis. The third and fourth cohorts were from two independent publicly available microarray datasets including 837 operable cases and 483 cases undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy, respectively, for clinicopathologic and gene-expression analysis. Characterized genes defining subgroups within the ER-/PgR+/HER2- phenotype were determined and further validated. Clinicopathologic features and survival outcomes of the ER-/PgR+ phenotype fell in between the ER+/PgR+ and ER-/PgR- phenotypes, but were more similar to ER-/PgR-. Among the ER-/PgR+ phenotype, 30% (95% confidence interval [CI] 17-42%, pooled by a fixed-effects method) were luminal-like and 59% (95% CI 45-72%, pooled by a fixed-effects method) were basal-like. We further refined the characterized genes for subtypes within the ER-/PgR+ phenotype and developed an immunohistochemistry-based method that could determine the molecular essence of ER-/PgR+ using three markers, TFF1, CK5, and EGFR. Either PAM50-defined or immunohistochemistry-defined basal-like ER-/PgR+ cases have a lower endocrine therapy sensitivity score compared with luminal-like ER-/PgR+ cases (P defined basal-like ER-/PgR+ cases might not benefit from adjuvant endocrine therapy (log-rank P = 0.61 for sufficient versus insufficient endocrine therapy). The majority of ER-/PgR+/HER2- phenotype breast cancers are basal-like and associated with a lower endocrine therapy sensitivity score. Additional studies are needed

Emotional episodes in the everyday lives of people with schizophrenia: the role of intrinsic motivation and negative symptoms.

Science.gov (United States)

McCormick, Bryan P; Snethen, Gretchen; Lysaker, Paul H

2012-12-01

Research on emotional experience has indicated that subjects with schizophrenia experience less positive, and more negative emotional experience than non-psychiatric subjects in natural settings. Differences in the experience of emotion may result from differences in experiences such that everyday activities may evoke emotions. The purpose of this study was to identify if everyday experience of competence and autonomy were related to positive and negative emotion. Adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorders were recruited from day treatment programs (N=45). Data were collected using experience-sampling methods. A number of subjects failed to meet data adequacy (N=13) but did not differ from retained subjects (N=32) in symptoms or cognition. Positive and negative emotion models were analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling Everyday activities were characterized by those reported as easily accomplished and requiring at most moderate talents. Positive emotional experiences were stronger than negative emotional experiences. The majority of variance in positive and negative emotion existed between persons. Negative symptoms were significantly related to positive emotion, but not negative emotion. The perception that motivation for activity was external to subjects (e.g. wished they were doing something else) was related to decreased positive emotion and enhanced negative emotion. Activities that required more exertion for activities was related to enhanced positive emotion, whereas activities that subjects reported they wanted to do was associated with reduced negative emotion. The implications of this study are that everyday experiences of people with schizophrenia do affect emotional experience and that management of experience to enhance positive emotion may have therapeutic benefits. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Imagining intergroup contact can combat mental health stigma by reducing anxiety, avoidance and negative stereotyping.

Science.gov (United States)

Stathi, Sofia; Tsantila, Katerina; Crisp, Richard J

2012-01-01

Research has demonstrated widespread negative attitudes held toward people with mental health problems. Our study investigated whether a new prejudice reduction technique, imagined intergroup contact (Crisp & Turner, 2009), could combat stigma against people with mental illness, and the mediating processes through which it may exert this beneficial effect. We found that compared to a control condition, participants who imagined a positive encounter with a schizophrenic person reported weakened stereotypes and formed stronger intentions to engage in future social interactions with schizophrenic people in general. Importantly, these intentions were formed due to reduced feelings of anxiety about future interactions. We discuss the implications of these findings for improving the social inclusion of people with mental health problems.

Emotion regulation and its effects on mood improvement in response to an in vivo peer rejection challenge.

Science.gov (United States)

Reijntjes, Albert; Stegge, Hedy; Terwogt, Mark Meerum; Kamphuis, Jan H; Telch, Michael J

2006-11-01

This study examined children's spontaneous use of behavioral emotion regulation (ER) strategies and their effects on subsequent mood change in response to an in vivo peer rejection manipulation. Participants (N = 186), ranging between 10 and 13 years of age, played a computer game based on the television show Survivor and were randomized to either peer rejection (being voted out of the game) or nonrejection control. In response to rejection, more than one third of the participants (38%) displayed a marked worsening (i.e., reliable change) in state mood. After receiving feedback, time spent on several behavioral ER strategies during a 5-minute postfeedback period was assessed. At the end of the postfeedback period, children's cognitive activity was also assessed. More time spent on behavioral distraction was positively linked to subsequent increases in positive affect, whereas the reverse pattern was found for disengagement/passive behavior. Moreover, higher endorsement ratings for the strategy of "cognitive analysis" were associated with stronger increases in negative affect. Copyright 2006 APA, all rights reserved.

Environmental stewardship and corporate social responsibility: Implication for consumers’ resistance to negative information. The case of apple in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Larbi

2014-11-01

Full Text Available There are several studies that have investigated the effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR on consumer behavior. However, these studies demonstrate conflicting results on how CSR influences consumer purchasing behavior and retention; for example, in event of negative information about a firm. Therefore, the effectiveness of CSR in advancing the core business of firms remains unresolved. This research uses a qualitative approach to examine how CSR affords firms greater levels of goodwill with consumers. The study focuses on the case of Apple in China. Both primary and secondary data were collected through interviews, review of literature, newspaper reports, blogs, social media, and official websites of institutions and corporate entities. A deductive analytical approach was used to examine how consumers perceive CSR, and how that impacts on their attitude towards a firm when confronted with negative information. The study found low level of awareness of CSR in consumers. Moreover, the findings demonstrate that consumers tend to attach more importance to CSR when they identify with the problems associated with the actions or inactions of a firm. The study shows that firms can only enjoy the full benefits of CSR by creating public awareness of such endeavours

Negative autobiographical memories in social anxiety disorder: A comparison with panic disorder and healthy controls.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Toole, Mia Skytte; Watson, Lynn A; Rosenberg, Nicole K; Berntsen, Dorthe

2016-03-01

Empirical interest in mental imagery in social anxiety disorder (SAD) has grown over the past years but still little is known about the specificity to SAD. The present study therefore examines negative autobiographical memories in participants with social anxiety disorder (SAD), compared to patients with panic disorder (PD), and healthy controls (HCs). A total of 107 participants retrieved four memories cued by verbal phrases associated with either social anxiety (SA) or panic anxiety (PA), with two memories for each cue category. PA-cued memories were experienced with stronger imagery and as more traumatic. They were also rated as more central to identity than SA-cued memories, but not among participants with SAD, who perceived SA-cued memories as equally central to their identity. When between-group effects were detected, participants with anxiety disorders differed from HCs, but not from each other. Central limitations include reliance on self-report measures, comorbidity in the anxiety disorder groups, and lack of a neutrally cued memory comparison. The findings align with models of SAD suggesting that past negative social events play a central role in this disorder. Future research is suggested to further explore the function of negative memories, not only in SAD, but also in other anxiety disorders. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Stronger activation of SREBP-1a by nucleus-localized HBx

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Qi; Qiao, Ling; Yang, Jian; Zhou, Yan; Liu, Qiang

2015-01-01

We previously showed that hepatitis B virus (HBV) X protein activates the sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1a (SREBP-1a). Here we examined the role of nuclear localization of HBx in this process. In comparison to the wild-type and cytoplasmic HBx, nuclear HBx had stronger effects on SREBP-1a and fatty acid synthase transcription activation, intracellular lipid accumulation and cell proliferation. Furthermore, nuclear HBx could activate HBV enhancer I/X promoter and was more effective on up-regulating HBV mRNA level in the context of HBV replication than the wild-type HBx, while the cytoplasmic HBx had no effect. Our results demonstrate the functional significance of the nucleus-localized HBx in regulating host lipogenic pathway and HBV replication. - Highlights: • Nuclear HBx is more effective on activating SREBP-1a and FASN transcription. • Nuclear HBx is more effective on enhancing intracellular lipid accumulation. • Nuclear HBx is more effective on enhancing cell proliferation. • Nuclear HBx up-regulates HBV enhancer I/X promoter activity. • Nuclear HBx increases HBV mRNA level in the context of HBV replication

Stronger activation of SREBP-1a by nucleus-localized HBx

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, Qi [VIDO-InterVac, Veterinary Microbiology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon (Canada); Qiao, Ling [VIDO-InterVac, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Canada); Yang, Jian [Drug Discovery Group, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Canada); Zhou, Yan [VIDO-InterVac, Veterinary Microbiology, Vaccinology and Immunotherapeutics, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Canada); Liu, Qiang, E-mail: qiang.liu@usask.ca [VIDO-InterVac, Veterinary Microbiology, Vaccinology and Immunotherapeutics, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Canada)

2015-05-08

We previously showed that hepatitis B virus (HBV) X protein activates the sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1a (SREBP-1a). Here we examined the role of nuclear localization of HBx in this process. In comparison to the wild-type and cytoplasmic HBx, nuclear HBx had stronger effects on SREBP-1a and fatty acid synthase transcription activation, intracellular lipid accumulation and cell proliferation. Furthermore, nuclear HBx could activate HBV enhancer I/X promoter and was more effective on up-regulating HBV mRNA level in the context of HBV replication than the wild-type HBx, while the cytoplasmic HBx had no effect. Our results demonstrate the functional significance of the nucleus-localized HBx in regulating host lipogenic pathway and HBV replication. - Highlights: • Nuclear HBx is more effective on activating SREBP-1a and FASN transcription. • Nuclear HBx is more effective on enhancing intracellular lipid accumulation. • Nuclear HBx is more effective on enhancing cell proliferation. • Nuclear HBx up-regulates HBV enhancer I/X promoter activity. • Nuclear HBx increases HBV mRNA level in the context of HBV replication.

Relational aggression, positive urgency and negative urgency: predicting alcohol use and consequences among college students.

Science.gov (United States)

Grimaldi, Elizabeth M; Napper, Lucy E; LaBrie, Joseph W

2014-09-01

Research on relational aggression (indirect and social means of inflicting harm) has previously focused on adolescent populations. The current study extends this research by exploring both the frequency of perpetrating and being the target of relational aggression as it relates to alcohol use outcomes in a college population. Further, this study examines whether positive urgency (e.g., acting impulsively in response to positive emotions) and negative urgency (e.g., acting impulsively in response to negative emotions) moderate the relationship between relational aggression and alcohol outcomes. In this study, 245 college students (65.7% female) completed an online survey. Results indicated greater frequency of perpetrating relational aggression, higher levels of positive urgency, or higher levels of negative urgency was associated with more negative consequences. Further, negative urgency moderated the relationship between frequency of perpetrating aggression and consequences such that aggression was more strongly associated with consequences for those high in urgency. Counter to the adolescent literature, the frequency of being the target of aggression was not associated with more alcohol use. These findings suggest that perpetrators of relational aggression may be at particular risk for negative alcohol-related consequences when they act impulsively in response to negative, but not positive, emotions. These students may benefit from interventions exploring alternative ways to cope with negative emotions.

Emotionally negative pictures increase attention to a subsequent auditory stimulus.

Science.gov (United States)

Tartar, Jaime L; de Almeida, Kristen; McIntosh, Roger C; Rosselli, Monica; Nash, Allan J

2012-01-01

Emotionally negative stimuli serve as a mechanism of biological preparedness to enhance attention. We hypothesized that emotionally negative stimuli would also serve as motivational priming to increase attention resources for subsequent stimuli. To that end, we tested 11 participants in a dual sensory modality task, wherein emotionally negative pictures were contrasted with emotionally neutral pictures and each picture was followed 600 ms later by a tone in an auditory oddball paradigm. Each trial began with a picture displayed for 200 ms; half of the trials began with an emotionally negative picture and half of the trials began with an emotionally neutral picture; 600 ms following picture presentation, the participants heard either an oddball tone or a standard tone. At the end of each trial (picture followed by tone), the participants categorized, with a button press, the picture and tone combination. As expected, and consistent with previous studies, we found an enhanced visual late positive potential (latency range=300-700 ms) to the negative picture stimuli. We further found that compared to neutral pictures, negative pictures resulted in early attention and orienting effects to subsequent tones (measured through an enhanced N1 and N2) and sustained attention effects only to the subsequent oddball tones (measured through late processing negativity, latency range=400-700 ms). Number pad responses to both the picture and tone category showed the shortest response latencies and greatest percentage of correct picture-tone categorization on the negative picture followed by oddball tone trials. Consistent with previous work on natural selective attention, our results support the idea that emotional stimuli can alter attention resource allocation. This finding has broad implications for human attention and performance as it specifically shows the conditions in which an emotionally negative stimulus can result in extended stimulus evaluation. Copyright © 2011

Radiation quality of beams of negative pions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dicello, J.F.; Brenner, D.J.

1981-01-01

As a negative pion stops in tissue, it attaches itself to an adjacent atom to form a mesonic atom. Subsequently, the wave function of the pion interacts with that of the nucleus and the pion is absorbed. Because the energy associated with the rest mass of the pion is greater than the separation energy of the nuclear particles, the nucleus disintegrates (pion star). In tissue, approximately 40 MeV goes into overcoming the binding energies; 20 MeV goes into kinetic energy of charged particles; 80 MeV goes into kinetic energy of neutrons. In cases where biological studies are performed with beams of negative pions, as much as 20% of the total absorbed dose in the treatment volume and about 50% of the high-LET dose (> 100 keV/μm) can result from neutrons. The degree of biological response and the variation of that response throughout the treatment volume can be altered by the neutron dose

Affect Intensity: An Individual Difference Response to Advertising Appeals.

OpenAIRE

Moore, David J; Harris, William D; Chen, Hong C

1995-01-01

The Affect Intensity Measurement (AIM) scale assesses the strength of the emotions with which individuals respond to an affect-laden stimulus. This study investigated the extent to which individual differences in affect intensity influence the message recipient's responses to emotional advertising appeals. In two experiments high affect intensity individuals, compared with those who scored low on the AIM scale, (1) manifested significantly stronger emotional responses to the emotional adverti...

Impaired down-regulation of negative emotion in self-referent social situations in bipolar disorder

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjærstad, Hanne L; Vinberg, Maj; Goldin, Philippe R

2016-01-01

naturally or dampen their emotional response to positive and negative social scenarios and associated self-beliefs. They were also given an established experimental task for comparison, involving reappraisal of negative affective picture stimuli, as well as a questionnaire of habitual ER strategies. BD...... patients showed reduced ability to down-regulate emotional responses in negative, but not positive, social scenarios relative to healthy controls and UD patients. In contrast, there were no between-group differences in the established ER task or in self-reported habitual reappraisal strategies. Findings...

In roots of Arabidopsis thaliana, the damage-associated molecular pattern AtPep1 is a stronger elicitor of immune signalling than flg22 or the chitin heptamer.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lorenzo Poncini

Full Text Available Plants interpret their immediate environment through perception of small molecules. Microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs such as flagellin and chitin are likely to be more abundant in the rhizosphere than plant-derived damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs. We investigated how the Arabidopsis thaliana root interprets MAMPs and DAMPs as danger signals. We monitored root development during exposure to increasing concentrations of the MAMPs flg22 and the chitin heptamer as well as of the DAMP AtPep1. The tissue-specific expression of defence-related genes in roots was analysed using a toolkit of promoter::YFPN lines reporting jasmonic acid (JA-, salicylic acid (SA-, ethylene (ET- and reactive oxygen species (ROS- dependent signalling. Finally, marker responses were analysed during invasion by the root pathogen Fusarium oxysporum. The DAMP AtPep1 triggered a stronger activation of the defence markers compared to flg22 and the chitin heptamer. In contrast to the tested MAMPs, AtPep1 induced SA- and JA-signalling markers in the root and caused a severe inhibition of root growth. Fungal attack resulted in a strong activation of defence genes in tissues close to the invading fungal hyphae. The results collectively suggest that AtPep1 presents a stronger danger signal to the Arabidopsis root than the MAMPs flg22 and chitin heptamer.

Negative mood reverses devaluation of goal-directed drug-seeking favouring an incentive learning account of drug dependence

OpenAIRE

Hogarth, L; Zhimin, H; Chase, HW; Wills, AJ; Troisi II, J; Leventhal, M; Mathew, AR; Hitsman, B

2015-01-01

Background Two theories explain how negative mood primes smoking behaviour. The stimulus?response (S-R) account argues that in the negative mood state, smoking is experienced as more reinforcing, establishing a direct (automatic) association between the negative mood state and smoking behaviour. By contrast, the incentive learning account argues that in the negative mood state smoking is expected to be more reinforcing, which integrates with instrumental knowledge of the response required to ...

Metal nanoparticles triggered persistent negative photoconductivity in silk protein hydrogels

Science.gov (United States)

Gogurla, Narendar; Sinha, Arun K.; Naskar, Deboki; Kundu, Subhas C.; Ray, Samit K.

2016-03-01

Silk protein is a natural biopolymer with intriguing properties, which are attractive for next generation bio-integrated electronic and photonic devices. Here, we demonstrate the negative photoconductive response of Bombyx mori silk protein fibroin hydrogels, triggered by Au nanoparticles. The room temperature electrical conductivity of Au-silk hydrogels is found to be enhanced with the incorporation of Au nanoparticles over the control sample, due to the increased charge transporting networks within the hydrogel. Au-silk lateral photoconductor devices show a unique negative photoconductive response under an illumination of 325 nm, with excitation energy higher than the characteristic metal plasmon resonance band. The enhanced photoconductance yield in the hydrogels over the silk protein is attributed to the photo-oxidation of amino groups in the β-pleated sheets of the silk around the Au nanoparticles followed by the breaking of charge transport networks. The Au-silk nanocomposite does not show any photoresponse under visible illumination because of the localization of excited charges in Au nanoparticles. The negative photoconductive response of hybrid Au-silk under UV illumination may pave the way towards the utilization of silk for future bio-photonic devices using metal nanoparticle platforms.

EGR-1 and DUSP-1 are important negative regulators of pro-allergic responses in airway epithelium.

Science.gov (United States)

Golebski, Korneliusz; van Egmond, Danielle; de Groot, Esther J; Roschmann, Kristina I L; Fokkens, Wytske J; van Drunen, Cornelis M

2015-05-01

Primary nasal epithelium of house dust mite allergic individuals is in a permanently activated inflammatory transcriptional state. To investigate whether a deregulated expression of EGR-1 and/or DUSP-1, two potential negative regulators of pro-inflammatory responses, could contribute to the activation of the inflammatory state. We silenced the expression of EGR-1 or DUSP-1 in the airway epithelial cell line NCI-H292. The cell lines were stimulated in a 24-h time course with the house dust mite allergen or poly(I:C). RNA expression profiles of cytokines were established using q-PCR and protein levels were determined in supernatants with ELISA. The shRNA-mediated gene silencing reduced expression levels of EGR-1 by 92% (p<0.0001) and of DUSP-1 by 76% (p<0.0001). Both mutant cells lines showed an increased and prolonged response to the HDM allergen. The mRNA induction of IL-6 was 4.6 fold (p=0.02) and 2.4 fold higher (p=0.01) in the EGR-1 and DUSP-1 knock-down, respectively when compared to the induced levels in the control cell line. For IL-8, the induction levels were 4.6 fold (p=0.01) and 13.0 (p=0.001) fold higher. The outcome was largely similar, yet not identical at the secreted protein levels. Furthermore, steroids were able to suppress the poly(I:C) induced cytokine levels by 70-95%. Deregulation of EGR-1 and/or DUSP-1 in nasal epithelium could be responsible for the prolonged activated transcriptional state observed in vivo in allergic disease. This could have clinical consequences as cytokine levels after the steroid treatment in EGR-1 or DUSP-1 knock-down remained higher than in the control cell line. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The bigger, the stronger? Insights from muscle architecture and nervous characteristics in obese adolescent girls.

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia-Vicencio, S; Coudeyre, E; Kluka, V; Cardenoux, C; Jegu, A-G; Fourot, A-V; Ratel, S; Martin, V

2016-02-01

Young obese youth are generally stronger than lean youth. This has been linked to the loading effect of excess body mass, acting as a training stimulus comparable to strength training. Whether this triggers specific adaptations of the muscle architecture (MA) and voluntary activation (VA) that could account for the higher strength of obese subjects remains unknown. MA characteristics (that is, pennation angle (PA), fascicle length (FL) and muscle thickness (MT)) and muscle size (that is, anatomical cross-sectional area (ACSA)) of the knee extensor (KE) and plantar flexor (PF) muscles were evaluated in 12 obese and 12 non-obese adolescent girls (12-15 years). Maximal isometric torque and VA of the KE and PF muscles were also assessed. Results revealed higher PA (Pmuscles in obese girls. Moreover, obese individuals produced a higher absolute torque than their lean counterparts on the KE (224.6±39.5 vs 135.7±32.7 N m, respectively; Pmuscles (73.3±16.5 vs 44.5±6.2 N m; Pmuscles (r=0.45-0.55, P<0.05-0.01). MVC was also correlated with VA (KE: r=0.44, P<0.05; PF: r=0.65, P<0.001) and segmental lean mass (KE: r=0.48, P<0.05; PF: r=0.57, P<0.01). This study highlighted favorable muscular and nervous adaptations to obesity that account for the higher strength of obese youth. The excess of body mass supported during daily activities could act as a chronic training stimulus responsible for these adaptations.

Hemispheric Asymmetries in Striatal Reward Responses Relate to Approach-Avoidance Learning and Encoding of Positive-Negative Prediction Errors in Dopaminergic Midbrain Regions.

Science.gov (United States)

Aberg, Kristoffer Carl; Doell, Kimberly C; Schwartz, Sophie

2015-10-28

Some individuals are better at learning about rewarding situations, whereas others are inclined to avoid punishments (i.e., enhanced approach or avoidance learning, respectively). In reinforcement learning, action values are increased when outcomes are better than predicted (positive prediction errors [PEs]) and decreased for worse than predicted outcomes (negative PEs). Because actions with high and low values are approached and avoided, respectively, individual differences in the neural encoding of PEs may influence the balance between approach-avoidance learning. Recent correlational approaches also indicate that biases in approach-avoidance learning involve hemispheric asymmetries in dopamine function. However, the computational and neural mechanisms underpinning such learning biases remain unknown. Here we assessed hemispheric reward asymmetry in striatal activity in 34 human participants who performed a task involving rewards and punishments. We show that the relative difference in reward response between hemispheres relates to individual biases in approach-avoidance learning. Moreover, using a computational modeling approach, we demonstrate that better encoding of positive (vs negative) PEs in dopaminergic midbrain regions is associated with better approach (vs avoidance) learning, specifically in participants with larger reward responses in the left (vs right) ventral striatum. Thus, individual dispositions or traits may be determined by neural processes acting to constrain learning about specific aspects of the world. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/3514491-10$15.00/0.

Age-related differences in affective responses to and memory for emotions conveyed by music: a cross-sectional study

Science.gov (United States)

Vieillard, Sandrine; Gilet, Anne-Laure

2013-01-01

There is mounting evidence that aging is associated with the maintenance of positive affect and the decrease of negative affect to ensure emotion regulation goals. Previous empirical studies have primarily focused on a visual or autobiographical form of emotion communication. To date, little investigation has been done on musical emotions. The few studies that have addressed aging and emotions in music were mainly interested in emotion recognition, thus leaving unexplored the question of how aging may influence emotional responses to and memory for emotions conveyed by music. In the present study, eighteen older (60–84 years) and eighteen younger (19–24 years) listeners were asked to evaluate the strength of their experienced emotion on happy, peaceful, sad, and scary musical excerpts (Vieillard et al., 2008) while facial muscle activity was recorded. Participants then performed an incidental recognition task followed by a task in which they judged to what extent they experienced happiness, peacefulness, sadness, and fear when listening to music. Compared to younger adults, older adults (a) reported a stronger emotional reactivity for happiness than other emotion categories, (b) showed an increased zygomatic activity for scary stimuli, (c) were more likely to falsely recognize happy music, and (d) showed a decrease in their responsiveness to sad and scary music. These results are in line with previous findings and extend them to emotion experience and memory recognition, corroborating the view of age-related changes in emotional responses to music in a positive direction away from negativity. PMID:24137141

Anger arousal and behavioral anger regulation in everyday life among people with chronic low back pain: Relationships with spouse responses and negative affect.

Science.gov (United States)

Burns, John W; Gerhart, James I; Bruehl, Stephen; Post, Kristina M; Smith, David A; Porter, Laura S; Schuster, Erik; Buvanendran, Asokumar; Fras, Anne Marie; Keefe, Francis J

2016-01-01

To determine the degree to which anger arousal and anger regulation (expression, inhibition) in the daily lives of people with chronic pain were related to spouse support, criticism, and hostility as perceived by patients and as reported by spouses. Married couples (N = 105, 1 spouse with chronic low back pain) completed electronic daily diaries, with assessments 5 times/day for 14 days. On these diaries, patients completed items on their own anger arousal, anger expression, and inhibition, and on perceived spouse support, criticism, and hostility. Spouses reported on their responses toward patients and their negative affect. Hierarchical linear modeling tested concurrent and lagged relationships. Patient-reported increases in anger arousal and anger expression were predominantly related to concurrent decreases in patient-perceived and spouse-reported spouse support, concurrent increases in patient-perceived and spouse-reported spouse criticism and hostility, and increases in spouse-reported negative affect. Relationships for anger expression remained significant with anger arousal controlled. These effects were especially strong for male patients. Spouses reported greater negative affect when patients were present than when they were not. Social support may facilitate adjustment to chronic pain, with declining support and overt criticism and hostility possibly adversely impacting pain and function. Results suggest that patient anger arousal and expression may be related to a negative interpersonal environment for married couples coping with chronic low back pain. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Neural mechanisms of negative reinforcement in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders

OpenAIRE

Damiano, Cara R; Cockrell, Dillon C; Dunlap, Kaitlyn; Hanna, Eleanor K; Miller, Stephanie; Bizzell, Joshua; Kovac, Megan; Turner-Brown, Lauren; Sideris, John; Kinard, Jessica; Dichter, Gabriel S

2015-01-01

Background Previous research has found accumulating evidence for atypical reward processing in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), particularly in the context of social rewards. Yet, this line of research has focused largely on positive social reinforcement, while little is known about the processing of negative reinforcement in individuals with ASD. Methods The present study examined neural responses to social negative reinforcement (a face displaying negative affect) and non-social negative re...

Increasing negativity of age stereotypes across 200 years: evidence from a database of 400 million words.

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, Reuben; Allore, Heather G; Trentalange, Mark; Monin, Joan K; Levy, Becca R

2015-01-01

Scholars argue about whether age stereotypes (beliefs about old people) are becoming more negative or positive over time. No previous study has systematically tested the trend of age stereotypes over more than 20 years, due to lack of suitable data. Our aim was to fill this gap by investigating whether age stereotypes have changed over the last two centuries and, if so, what may be associated with this change. We hypothesized that age stereotypes have increased in negativity due, in part, to the increasing medicalization of aging. This study applied computational linguistics to the recently compiled Corpus of Historical American English (COHA), a database of 400 million words that includes a range of printed sources from 1810 to 2009. After generating a comprehensive list of synonyms for the term elderly for these years from two historical thesauri, we identified 100 collocates (words that co-occurred most frequently with these synonyms) for each of the 20 decades. Inclusion criteria for the collocates were: (1) appeared within four words of the elderly synonym, (2) referred to an old person, and (3) had a stronger association with the elderly synonym than other words appearing in the database for that decade. This yielded 13,100 collocates that were rated for negativity and medicalization. We found that age stereotypes have become more negative in a linear way over 200 years. In 1880, age stereotypes switched from being positive to being negative. In addition, support was found for two potential explanations. Medicalization of aging and the growing proportion of the population over the age of 65 were both significantly associated with the increase in negative age stereotypes. The upward trajectory of age-stereotype negativity makes a case for remedial action on a societal level.

Increasing negativity of age stereotypes across 200 years: evidence from a database of 400 million words.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reuben Ng

Full Text Available Scholars argue about whether age stereotypes (beliefs about old people are becoming more negative or positive over time. No previous study has systematically tested the trend of age stereotypes over more than 20 years, due to lack of suitable data. Our aim was to fill this gap by investigating whether age stereotypes have changed over the last two centuries and, if so, what may be associated with this change. We hypothesized that age stereotypes have increased in negativity due, in part, to the increasing medicalization of aging. This study applied computational linguistics to the recently compiled Corpus of Historical American English (COHA, a database of 400 million words that includes a range of printed sources from 1810 to 2009. After generating a comprehensive list of synonyms for the term elderly for these years from two historical thesauri, we identified 100 collocates (words that co-occurred most frequently with these synonyms for each of the 20 decades. Inclusion criteria for the collocates were: (1 appeared within four words of the elderly synonym, (2 referred to an old person, and (3 had a stronger association with the elderly synonym than other words appearing in the database for that decade. This yielded 13,100 collocates that were rated for negativity and medicalization. We found that age stereotypes have become more negative in a linear way over 200 years. In 1880, age stereotypes switched from being positive to being negative. In addition, support was found for two potential explanations. Medicalization of aging and the growing proportion of the population over the age of 65 were both significantly associated with the increase in negative age stereotypes. The upward trajectory of age-stereotype negativity makes a case for remedial action on a societal level.

Neuroticism modulates amygdala-prefrontal connectivity in response to negative emotional facial expressions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cremers, Henk R.; Demenescu, Liliana R.; Aleman, Andre; Renken, Remco; van Tol, Marie-Jose; van der Wee, Nic J. A.; Veltman, Dick. J.; Roelofs, Karin

2010-01-01

Neuroticism is associated with the experience of negative affect and the development of affective disorders. While evidence exists for a modulatory role of neuroticism on task induced brain activity, it is unknown how neuroticism affects brain connectivity, especially the crucial coupling between

Error-Related Negativity and Tic History in Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Hanna, Gregory L.; Carrasco, Melisa; Harbin, Shannon M.; Nienhuis, Jenna K.; LaRosa, Christina E.; Chen, Poyu; Fitzgerald, Kate D.; Gehring, William J.

2012-01-01

Objective: The error-related negativity (ERN) is a negative deflection in the event-related potential after an incorrect response, which is often increased in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, the relation of the ERN to comorbid tic disorders has not been examined in patients with OCD. This study compared ERN amplitudes…

Nitrogen fertilization has a stronger effect on soil nitrogen-fixing bacterial communities than elevated atmospheric CO2.

Science.gov (United States)

Berthrong, Sean T; Yeager, Chris M; Gallegos-Graves, Laverne; Steven, Blaire; Eichorst, Stephanie A; Jackson, Robert B; Kuske, Cheryl R

2014-05-01

Biological nitrogen fixation is the primary supply of N to most ecosystems, yet there is considerable uncertainty about how N-fixing bacteria will respond to global change factors such as increasing atmospheric CO2 and N deposition. Using the nifH gene as a molecular marker, we studied how the community structure of N-fixing soil bacteria from temperate pine, aspen, and sweet gum stands and a brackish tidal marsh responded to multiyear elevated CO2 conditions. We also examined how N availability, specifically, N fertilization, interacted with elevated CO2 to affect these communities in the temperate pine forest. Based on data from Sanger sequencing and quantitative PCR, the soil nifH composition in the three forest systems was dominated by species in the Geobacteraceae and, to a lesser extent, Alphaproteobacteria. The N-fixing-bacterial-community structure was subtly altered after 10 or more years of elevated atmospheric CO2, and the observed shifts differed in each biome. In the pine forest, N fertilization had a stronger effect on nifH community structure than elevated CO2 and suppressed the diversity and abundance of N-fixing bacteria under elevated atmospheric CO2 conditions. These results indicate that N-fixing bacteria have complex, interacting responses that will be important for understanding ecosystem productivity in a changing climate.

Positive smoking outcome expectancies mediate the association between negative affect and smoking urge among women during a quit attempt.

Science.gov (United States)

Cano, Miguel Ángel; Lam, Cho Y; Chen, Minxing; Adams, Claire E; Correa-Fernández, Virmarie; Stewart, Diana W; McClure, Jennifer B; Cinciripini, Paul M; Wetter, David W

2014-08-01

Ecological momentary assessment was used to examine associations between negative affect, positive smoking outcome expectancies, and smoking urge during the first 7 days of a smoking quit attempt. Participants were 302 female smokers who enrolled in an individually tailored smoking cessation treatment study. Multilevel mediation analysis was used to examine the temporal relationship among the following: (a) the effects of negative affect and positive smoking outcome expectancies at 1 assessment point (e.g., time j) on smoking urge at the subsequent time point (e.g., time j + 1) in Model 1; and, (b) the effects of negative affect and smoking urge at time j on positive smoking outcome expectancies at time j + 1 in Model 2. The results from Model 1 showed a statistically significant effect of negative affect at time j on smoking urge at time j + 1, and this effect was mediated by positive smoking outcome expectancies at time j, both within- and between-participants. In Model 2, the within-participant indirect effect of negative affect at time j on positive smoking outcome expectancies at time j + 1 through smoking urge at time j was nonsignificant. However, a statistically significant indirect between-participants effect was found in Model 2. The findings support the hypothesis that urge and positive smoking outcome expectancies increase as a function of negative affect, and suggest a stronger effect of expectancies on urge as opposed to the effect of urge on expectancies.

The psycho-physiological responses of partners in the process of divorce

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brigita Kričaj Korelc

2005-09-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the present study was to establish whether the partners who are in the process of separating and those, who evaluate their partnership as successful, differ from each other in emotional, behavioural and somatic responses, and whether there are differences between them in personal strenght, tackling and in different styles of defensive behaviour. According to that, the author followed a psycho-physiological integrational model of disease existence and biopsychosocial model of health and disease. The results showed that the separating partners of both gender experience subjectively stronger emotional states with negative hedonic note and manifest more mood and adaptable emotional disturbances in quality and quantity as a reaction to the stressful events. They also respond strongly with somatic disturbances without organic basis or defined physical causes. Partners in separation also engage more nonadaptive and risk taking behaviors. In addition their use of all disposable strategies of coping is more vigorous and frequent. Obtained results also show some specific cross gender features and differences in receiving and responding to the separation of a matrimony.

Negative mood reverses devaluation of goal-directed drug-seeking favouring an incentive learning account of drug dependence.

Science.gov (United States)

Hogarth, Lee; He, Zhimin; Chase, Henry W; Wills, Andy J; Troisi, Joseph; Leventhal, Adam M; Mathew, Amanda R; Hitsman, Brian

2015-09-01

Two theories explain how negative mood primes smoking behaviour. The stimulus-response (S-R) account argues that in the negative mood state, smoking is experienced as more reinforcing, establishing a direct (automatic) association between the negative mood state and smoking behaviour. By contrast, the incentive learning account argues that in the negative mood state smoking is expected to be more reinforcing, which integrates with instrumental knowledge of the response required to produce that outcome. One differential prediction is that whereas the incentive learning account anticipates that negative mood induction could augment a novel tobacco-seeking response in an extinction test, the S-R account could not explain this effect because the extinction test prevents S-R learning by omitting experience of the reinforcer. To test this, overnight-deprived daily smokers (n = 44) acquired two instrumental responses for tobacco and chocolate points, respectively, before smoking to satiety. Half then received negative mood induction to raise the expected value of tobacco, opposing satiety, whilst the remainder received positive mood induction. Finally, a choice between tobacco and chocolate was measured in extinction to test whether negative mood could augment tobacco choice, opposing satiety, in the absence of direct experience of tobacco reinforcement. Negative mood induction not only abolished the devaluation of tobacco choice, but participants with a significant increase in negative mood increased their tobacco choice in extinction, despite satiety. These findings suggest that negative mood augments drug-seeking by raising the expected value of the drug through incentive learning, rather than through automatic S-R control.

Meta-analysis reveals complex marine biological responses to the interactive effects of ocean acidification and warming

Science.gov (United States)

Harvey, Ben P; Gwynn-Jones, Dylan; Moore, Pippa J

2013-01-01

Ocean acidification and warming are considered two of the greatest threats to marine biodiversity, yet the combined effect of these stressors on marine organisms remains largely unclear. Using a meta-analytical approach, we assessed the biological responses of marine organisms to the effects of ocean acidification and warming in isolation and combination. As expected biological responses varied across taxonomic groups, life-history stages, and trophic levels, but importantly, combining stressors generally exhibited a stronger biological (either positive or negative) effect. Using a subset of orthogonal studies, we show that four of five of the biological responses measured (calcification, photosynthesis, reproduction, and survival, but not growth) interacted synergistically when warming and acidification were combined. The observed synergisms between interacting stressors suggest that care must be made in making inferences from single-stressor studies. Our findings clearly have implications for the development of adaptive management strategies particularly given that the frequency of stressors interacting in marine systems will be likely to intensify in the future. There is now an urgent need to move toward more robust, holistic, and ecologically realistic climate change experiments that incorporate interactions. Without them accurate predictions about the likely deleterious impacts to marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning over the next century will not be possible. PMID:23610641

Different neural and cognitive response to emotional faces in healthy monozygotic twins at risk of depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Miskowiak, K W; Glerup, L; Vestbo, C; Harmer, C J; Reinecke, A; Macoveanu, J; Siebner, H R; Kessing, L V; Vinberg, M

2015-05-01

Negative cognitive bias and aberrant neural processing of emotional faces are trait-marks of depression. Yet it is unclear whether these changes constitute an endophenotype for depression and are also present in healthy individuals with hereditary risk for depression. Thirty healthy, never-depressed monozygotic (MZ) twins with a co-twin history of depression (high risk group: n = 13) or without co-twin history of depression (low-risk group: n = 17) were enrolled in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study. During fMRI, participants viewed fearful and happy faces while performing a gender discrimination task. After the scan, they were given a faces dot-probe task, a facial expression recognition task and questionnaires assessing mood, personality traits and coping strategies. High-risk twins showed increased neural response to happy and fearful faces in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), pre-supplementary motor area and occipito-parietal regions compared to low-risk twins. They also displayed stronger negative coupling between amygdala and pregenual ACC, dmPFC and temporo-parietal regions during emotional face processing. These task-related changes in neural responses in high-risk twins were accompanied by impaired gender discrimination performance during face processing. They also displayed increased attention vigilance for fearful faces and were slower at recognizing facial expressions relative to low-risk controls. These effects occurred in the absence of differences between groups in mood, subjective state or coping. Different neural response and functional connectivity within fronto-limbic and occipito-parietal regions during emotional face processing and enhanced fear vigilance may be key endophenotypes for depression.

ANCA-negative limited Wegener′s granulomatosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ghosh A

2004-03-01

Full Text Available A 26-year-old man presented with epistaxis, nasal obstruction and a subcutaneous swelling over the left malar region with radiological evidence of a mass in the right nasal cavity. Histology of the lesions showed necrotizing granuloma with evidence of vasculitis. There was no other systemic involvement and the patient was ANCA-negative. Excellent response to systemic steroid and cyclophosphamide therapy was noted.

States agree on stronger physical protection regime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

Full text: Delegates from 89 countries agreed on 8 July to fundamental changes that will substantially strengthen the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM). IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei welcomed the agreement in saying 'This new and stronger treaty is an important step towards greater nuclear security by combating, preventing, and ultimately punishing those who would engage in nuclear theft, sabotage or even terrorism. It demonstrates that there is indeed a global commitment to remedy weaknesses in our nuclear security regime.' The amended CPPNM makes it legally binding for States Parties to protect nuclear facilities and material in peaceful domestic use, storage as well as transport. It will also provide for expanded cooperation between and among States regarding rapid measures to locate and recover stolen or smuggled nuclear material, mitigate any radiological consequences of sabotage, and prevent and combat related offences. The original CPPNM applied only to nuclear material in international transport. Conference President Dr. Alec Baer said 'All 89 delegations demonstrated real unity of purpose. They put aside some very genuine national concerns in favour of the global interest and the result is a much improved convention that is better suited to addressing the nuclear security challenges we currently face.' The new rules will come into effect once they have been ratified by two-thirds of the 112 States Parties of the Convention, expected to take several years. 'But concrete actions are already taking place around the world. For more than 3 years, the IAEA has been implementing a systematic Nuclear Security plan, including physical protection activities designed to prevent, detect and respond to malicious acts,' said Anita Nillson, Director of the IAEA's Office of Nuclear Security. The Agency's Nuclear Security Fund, set up after the events of 9/11, has delivered $19.5 million in practical assistance to 121 countries

Corporate social responsibility in a competitive business environment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Newman, Carol; Rand, John; Tarp, Finn

efficiency, and reveal that the impact is stronger for firms in non-competitive industries. Moreover, we show that local community focused corporate social responsibility initiatives drive the aggregate effect. This suggests that socially responsible actions by firms are likely to pay-off when stakeholder...... engagement has a localized focus. We provide evidence of reciprocity by showing that employees accept a lower share of additionally generated value added in exchange for working in a company that signals ‘good’ corporate values....

Evidence Based Medicine; Positive and Negative Likelihood Ratios of Diagnostic Tests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alireza Baratloo

2015-10-01

Full Text Available In the previous two parts of educational manuscript series in Emergency, we explained some screening characteristics of diagnostic tests including accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values. In the 3rd  part we aimed to explain positive and negative likelihood ratio (LR as one of the most reliable performance measures of a diagnostic test. To better understand this characteristic of a test, it is first necessary to fully understand the concept of sensitivity and specificity. So we strongly advise you to review the 1st part of this series again. In short, the likelihood ratios are about the percentage of people with and without a disease but having the same test result. The prevalence of a disease can directly influence screening characteristics of a diagnostic test, especially its sensitivity and specificity. Trying to eliminate this effect, LR was developed. Pre-test probability of a disease multiplied by positive or negative LR can estimate post-test probability. Therefore, LR is the most important characteristic of a test to rule out or rule in a diagnosis. A positive likelihood ratio > 1 means higher probability of the disease to be present in a patient with a positive test. The further from 1, either higher or lower, the stronger the evidence to rule in or rule out the disease, respectively. It is obvious that tests with LR close to one are less practical. On the other hand, LR further from one will have more value for application in medicine. Usually tests with 0.1 < LR > 10 are considered suitable for implication in routine practice.

Comparison of Photopic Negative Response of Full-Field and Focal Electroretinograms in Detecting Glaucomatous Eyes

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Shigeki Machida

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose. To compare the photopic negative response (PhNR of the full-field electroretinogram (ERG to the PhNR of the focal ERGs in detecting glaucoma. Methods. One hundred and three eyes with glaucoma and 42 normal eyes were studied. Full-field ERGs were elicited by red stimuli on a blue background. The focal ERGs were elicited by a 15∘ white stimulus spot centered on the macula, the superotemporal or the inferotemporal areas of the macula. Results. In early glaucoma, the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs were significantly larger for the focal PhNR (0.863–0.924 than those for the full-field PhNR (0.666–0.748 (P<.05. The sensitivity was significantly higher for the focal PhNR than for the full-field PhNR in early (P<.01 and intermediate glaucoma (P<.05. In advanced glaucoma, there was no difference in the AUCs and sensitivities between the focal and full-field PhNRs. Conclusions. The focal ERG has the diagnostic ability with higher sensitivity in detecting early and intermediate glaucoma than the full-field ERG.

Relationship between obesity, negative affect and basal heart rate in predicting heart rate reactivity to psychological stress among adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Andres E; Huynh, Pauline; Schell, Anne M; Baker, Laura A

2015-08-01

Reduced cardiovascular responses to psychological stressors have been found to be associated with both obesity and negative affect in adults, but have been less well studied in children and adolescent populations. These findings have most often been interpreted as reflecting reduced sympathetic nervous system response, perhaps associated with heightened baseline sympathetic activation among the obese and those manifesting negative affect. However, obesity and negative affect may themselves be correlated, raising the question of whether they both independently affect cardiovascular reactivity. The present study thus examined the separate effects of obesity and negative affect on both cardiovascular and skin conductance responses to stress (e.g., during a serial subtraction math task) in adolescents, while controlling for baseline levels of autonomic activity during rest. Both obesity and negative affect had independent and negative associations with cardiovascular reactivity, such that reduced stress responses were apparent for obese adolescents and those with high levels of negative affect. In contrast, neither obesity nor negative affect was related to skin conductance responses to stress, implicating specifically noradrenergic mechanisms rather than sympathetic mechanisms generally as being deficient. Moreover, baseline heart rate was unrelated to obesity in this sample, which suggests that heightened baseline of sympathetic activity is not necessary for the reduced cardiovascular reactivity to stress. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Uniaxial Negative Thermal Expansion, Negative Linear Compressibility, and Negative Poisson's Ratio Induced by Specific Topology in Zn[Au(CN)2]2.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lei; Luo, Hubin; Deng, Shenghua; Sun, Ying; Wang, Cong

2017-12-18

The well-known idea of "structure determines properties" can be understood profoundly in the case of hexagonal zinc dicyanometalate. Using density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we show the uniaxial negative thermal expansion (NTE) and negative linear compressibility (NLC) properties of Zn[Au(CN) 2 ] 2 . The temperature dependence of phonon frequencies within the quasi-harmonic approximation (QHA) is investigated. The abnormal phonon hardening (frequency increase on heating) is detected in the ranges of 0-225, 320-345, and 410-430 cm -1 , which can be indicative of the unusual physical properties of Zn[Au(CN) 2 ] 2 . Due to the significance of low-energy phonon frequencies in Zn[Au(CN) 2 ] 2 , in this work, the corresponding vibrational mode of the lowest-frequency optical phonon at the zone center is analyzed. The specific topology of a springlike framework that will produce the effects of a compressed spring on heating and an extended spring under hydrostatic pressure is identified and leads to the coexistence of uniaxial-NTE and NLC behaviors in Zn[Au(CN) 2 ] 2 . The distinguishing phonon group velocity along the a axis and c axis facilitates different responses for both the axes under temperature and hydrostatic pressure field. Through an analysis and visualization of the spatial dependence of elastic tensors, it is found that a negative Poisson's ratio (NPR) is presented in all projection planes due to the specific topology.

Negative rebound and disinvestment effects in response to an improvement in energy efficiency in the UK economy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, Karen

2009-01-01

This paper uses a computable general equilibrium (CGE) framework to investigate the conditions under which rebound effects may occur in response to increases in energy efficiency in the UK national economy. Previous work for the UK has suggested that rebound effects will occur even where key elasticities of substitution in production are set close to zero. The research reported in this paper involves carrying out a systematic sensitivity analysis, where relative price sensitivity is gradually introduced into the system, focusing specifically on elasticities of substitution in production and trade parameters, in order to determine conditions under which rebound effects become a likely outcome. The main result is that, while there is positive pressure for rebound effects even where (direct and indirect) demands for energy are very price inelastic, this may be partially or wholly offset by negative income, competitiveness and disinvestment effects, which also occur in response to falling energy prices. The occurrence of disinvestment effects is of particular interest. These occur where falling energy prices reduce profitability in domestic energy supply sectors, leading to a contraction in capital stock in these sectors, which may in turn lead to rebound effects that are smaller in the long run than in the short run, a result that runs contrary to the predictions of previous theoretical work in this area.

Negative rebound and disinvestment effects in response to an improvement in energy efficiency in the UK economy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Turner, Karen [Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde, Sir William Duncan Building, 130 Rottenrow, Glasgow G4 0GE (United Kingdom)

2009-09-15

This paper uses a computable general equilibrium (CGE) framework to investigate the conditions under which rebound effects may occur in response to increases in energy efficiency in the UK national economy. Previous work for the UK has suggested that rebound effects will occur even where key elasticities of substitution in production are set close to zero. The research reported in this paper involves carrying out a systematic sensitivity analysis, where relative price sensitivity is gradually introduced into the system, focusing specifically on elasticities of substitution in production and trade parameters, in order to determine conditions under which rebound effects become a likely outcome. The main result is that, while there is positive pressure for rebound effects even where (direct and indirect) demands for energy are very price inelastic, this may be partially or wholly offset by negative income, competitiveness and disinvestment effects, which also occur in response to falling energy prices. The occurrence of disinvestment effects is of particular interest. These occur where falling energy prices reduce profitability in domestic energy supply sectors, leading to a contraction in capital stock in these sectors, which may in turn lead to rebound effects that are smaller in the long run than in the short run, a result that runs contrary to the predictions of previous theoretical work in this area. (author)

Sex moderates the effects of positive and negative affect on clinical pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis.

Science.gov (United States)

Speed, Traci J; Richards, Jessica M; Finan, Patrick H; Smith, Michael T

2017-07-01

Sex differences in clinical pain severity and response to experimental pain are commonly reported, with women generally showing greater vulnerability. Affect, including state (a single rating) and stable (average daily ratings over two weeks) positive affect and negative affect has also been found to impact pain sensitivity and severity, and research suggests that affect may modulate pain differentially as a function of sex. The current study aimed to examine sex as a moderator of the relationships between affect and pain-related outcomes among participants with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). One hundred and seventy-nine participants (59 men) with KOA completed electronic diaries assessing clinical pain, positive affect, and negative affect. A subset of participants (n=120) underwent quantitative sensory testing, from which a single index of central sensitization to pain was derived. We used multiple regression models to test for the interactive effects of sex and affect (positive versus negative and stable versus state) on pain-related outcomes. We used mixed effects models to test for the moderating effects of sex on the relationships between state affect and pain over time. Sex differences in affect and pain were identified, with men reporting significantly higher stable positive affect and lower central sensitization to pain indexed by quantitative sensory testing, as well as marginally lower KOA-specific clinical pain compared to women. Moreover, there was an interaction between stable positive affect and sex on KOA-specific clinical pain and average daily non-specific pain ratings. Post hoc analyses revealed that men showed trends towards an inverse relationship between stable positive affect and pain outcomes, while women showed no relationship between positive affect and pain. There was also a significant interaction between sex and stable negative affect and sex on KOA-specific pain such that men showed a significantly stronger positive relationship between

Intensifying the Dominant Response II: Nonconscious Negative Affect, Cognitive Demand, and Conversations.

Science.gov (United States)

Monahan, Jennifer L.; Laliker, Melanie

2002-01-01

Examines mechanisms that may account for why evaluations made by participants involved in conversations are more influenced by subliminal negative cues than are evaluations made by observers. Explains three studies in which subliminal priming tasks were used with differing cognitive loads and self-preservation concerns among a group of…

Trade-off between positive and negative design of protein stability: from lattice models to real proteins.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Orly Noivirt-Brik

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Two different strategies for stabilizing proteins are (i positive design in which the native state is stabilized and (ii negative design in which competing non-native conformations are destabilized. Here, the circumstances under which one strategy might be favored over the other are explored in the case of lattice models of proteins and then generalized and discussed with regard to real proteins. The balance between positive and negative design of proteins is found to be determined by their average "contact-frequency", a property that corresponds to the fraction of states in the conformational ensemble of the sequence in which a pair of residues is in contact. Lattice model proteins with a high average contact-frequency are found to use negative design more than model proteins with a low average contact-frequency. A mathematical derivation of this result indicates that it is general and likely to hold also for real proteins. Comparison of the results of correlated mutation analysis for real proteins with typical contact-frequencies to those of proteins likely to have high contact-frequencies (such as disordered proteins and proteins that are dependent on chaperonins for their folding indicates that the latter tend to have stronger interactions between residues that are not in contact in their native conformation. Hence, our work indicates that negative design is employed when insufficient stabilization is achieved via positive design owing to high contact-frequencies.

Effects of loss aversion on neural responses to loss outcomes: An event-related potential study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kokmotou, Katerina; Cook, Stephanie; Xie, Yuxin; Wright, Hazel; Soto, Vicente; Fallon, Nicholas; Giesbrecht, Timo; Pantelous, Athanasios; Stancak, Andrej

2017-05-01

Loss aversion is the tendency to prefer avoiding losses over acquiring gains of the same amount. To shed light on the spatio-temporal processes underlying loss aversion, we analysed the associations between individual loss aversion and electrophysiological responses to loss and gain outcomes in a monetary gamble task. Electroencephalographic feedback-related negativity (FRN) was computed in 29 healthy participants as the difference in electrical potentials between losses and gains. Loss aversion was evaluated using non-linear parametric fitting of choices in a separate gamble task. Loss aversion correlated positively with FRN amplitude (233-263ms) at electrodes covering the lower face. Feedback related potentials were modelled by five equivalent source dipoles. From these dipoles, stronger activity in a source located in the orbitofrontal cortex was associated with loss aversion. The results suggest that loss aversion implemented during risky decision making is related to a valuation process in the orbitofrontal cortex, which manifests during learning choice outcomes. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Stronger Association Between Valence- and Arousal Ratings of Affective Pictures with Older Age: Evidence for Variation Across Emotion Categories

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mikkelsen, Mai Bjørnskov; Mehlsen, Mimi Yung; Lyby, Marlene Skovgaard

A sample of older and younger adults rated affective pictures according to valence, arousal and emotion category (happiness, sadness and disgust). Results indicate that older age is associated with a stronger linear association between ratings of arousal and valence. Further, the strength...... of the association vary according to emotion category....

Efficacy of Neoadjuvant Cisplatin in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Szallasi, Zoltan Imre; Eklund, Aron Charles; Li, Qiyuan

2010-01-01

PURPOSE Cisplatin is a chemotherapeutic agent not used routinely for breast cancer treatment. As a DNA cross-linking agent, cisplatin may be effective treatment for hereditary BRCA1-mutated breast cancers. Because sporadic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and BRCA1-associated breast cancer...... samples were evaluated for selected biomarkers. Results Six (22%) of 28 patients achieved pathologic complete responses, including both patients with BRCA1 germline mutations;18 (64%) patients had a clinical complete or partial response. Fourteen (50%) patients showed good pathologic responses (Miller...

Planning what not to eat: ironic effects of implementation intentions negating unhealthy habits

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Adriaanse, M.A.; van Oosten, J.M.F.; de Ridder, D.T.D.; de Wit, J.B.F.; Evers, C.

2011-01-01

The present studies tested the effectiveness of implementation intentions with an "if [situation], then not [habitual response]" structure. Based on ironic process theory and the literature on the processing of negations, it was expected that these "negation implementation intentions" would,

STRONG SOLAR WIND DYNAMIC PRESSURE PULSES: INTERPLANETARY SOURCES AND THEIR IMPACTS ON GEOSYNCHRONOUS MAGNETIC FIELDS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zuo, Pingbing; Feng, Xueshang; Wang, Yi; Xie, Yanqiong; Xu, Xiaojun

2015-01-01

In this investigation, we first present a statistical result of the interplanetary sources of very strong solar wind dynamic pressure pulses (DPPs) detected by WIND during solar cycle 23. It is found that the vast majority of strong DPPs reside within solar wind disturbances. Although the variabilities of geosynchronous magnetic fields (GMFs) due to the impact of positive DPPs have been well established, there appears to be no systematic investigations on the response of GMFs to negative DPPs. Here, we study both the decompression effects of very strong negative DPPs and the compression from strong positive DPPs on GMFs at different magnetic local time sectors. In response to the decompression of strong negative DPPs, GMFs on the dayside near dawn and near dusk on the nightside, are generally depressed. But near the midnight region, the responses of GMF are very diverse, being either positive or negative. For part of the events when GOES is located at the midnight sector, the GMF is found to abnormally increase as the result of magnetospheric decompression caused by negative DPPs. It is known that under certain conditions magnetic depression of nightside GMFs can be caused by the impact of positive DPPs. Here, we find that a stronger pressure enhancement may have a higher probability of producing the exceptional depression of GMF at the midnight region. Statistically, both the decompression effect of strong negative DPPs and the compression effect of strong positive DPPs depend on the magnetic local time, which are stronger at the noon sector

STRONG SOLAR WIND DYNAMIC PRESSURE PULSES: INTERPLANETARY SOURCES AND THEIR IMPACTS ON GEOSYNCHRONOUS MAGNETIC FIELDS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zuo, Pingbing; Feng, Xueshang; Wang, Yi [SIGMA Weather Group, State Key Laboratory of Space Weather, National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China); Xie, Yanqiong [College of Meteorology and Oceanography, PLA University of Science and Technology, Nanjing (China); Xu, Xiaojun, E-mail: pbzuo@spaceweather.ac.cn, E-mail: fengx@spaceweather.ac.cn [Space Science Institute, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macao (China)

2015-10-20

In this investigation, we first present a statistical result of the interplanetary sources of very strong solar wind dynamic pressure pulses (DPPs) detected by WIND during solar cycle 23. It is found that the vast majority of strong DPPs reside within solar wind disturbances. Although the variabilities of geosynchronous magnetic fields (GMFs) due to the impact of positive DPPs have been well established, there appears to be no systematic investigations on the response of GMFs to negative DPPs. Here, we study both the decompression effects of very strong negative DPPs and the compression from strong positive DPPs on GMFs at different magnetic local time sectors. In response to the decompression of strong negative DPPs, GMFs on the dayside near dawn and near dusk on the nightside, are generally depressed. But near the midnight region, the responses of GMF are very diverse, being either positive or negative. For part of the events when GOES is located at the midnight sector, the GMF is found to abnormally increase as the result of magnetospheric decompression caused by negative DPPs. It is known that under certain conditions magnetic depression of nightside GMFs can be caused by the impact of positive DPPs. Here, we find that a stronger pressure enhancement may have a higher probability of producing the exceptional depression of GMF at the midnight region. Statistically, both the decompression effect of strong negative DPPs and the compression effect of strong positive DPPs depend on the magnetic local time, which are stronger at the noon sector.

Selection is stronger in early-versus-late stages of divergence in a Neotropical livebearing fish.

Science.gov (United States)

Ingley, Spencer J; Johnson, Jerald B

2016-03-01

How selection acts to drive trait evolution at different stages of divergence is of fundamental importance in our understanding of the origins of biodiversity. Yet, most studies have focused on a single point along an evolutionary trajectory. Here, we provide a case study evaluating the strength of divergent selection acting on life-history traits at early-versus-late stages of divergence in Brachyrhaphis fishes. We find that the difference in selection is stronger in the early-diverged population than the late-diverged population, and that trait differences acquired early are maintained over time. © 2016 The Author(s).

Height, age at menarche and risk of hormone receptor-positive and -negative breast cancer: a cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ritte, Rebecca; Lukanova, Annekatrin; Tjønneland, Anne; Olsen, Anja; Overvad, Kim; Mesrine, Sylvie; Fagherazzi, Guy; Dossus, Laure; Teucher, Birgit; Steindorf, Karen; Boeing, Heiner; Aleksandrova, Krasimira; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Lagiou, Pagona; Trichopoulos, Dimitrios; Palli, Domenico; Grioni, Sara; Mattiello, Amalia; Tumino, Rosario; Sacerdote, Carlotta; Quirós, José Ramón; Buckland, Genevieve; Molina-Montes, Esther; Chirlaque, María-Dolores; Ardanaz, Eva; Amiano, Pilar; Bueno-de-Mesquita, Bas; van Duijnhoven, Franzel; van Gils, Carla H; Peeters, Petra Hm; Wareham, Nick; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Key, Timothy J; Travis, Ruth C; Krum-Hansen, Sanda; Gram, Inger Torhild; Lund, Eiliv; Sund, Malin; Andersson, Anne; Romieu, Isabelle; Rinaldi, Sabina; McCormack, Valerie; Riboli, Elio; Kaaks, Rudolf

2013-06-01

Associations of breast cancer overall with indicators of exposures during puberty are reasonably well characterized; however, uncertainty remains regarding the associations of height, leg length, sitting height and menarcheal age with hormone receptor-defined malignancies. Within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort, Cox proportional hazards models were used to describe the relationships of adult height, leg length and sitting height and age at menarche with risk of estrogen and progesterone receptor negative (ER-PR-) (n = 990) and ER+PR+ (n = 3,524) breast tumors. Height as a single risk factor was compared to a model combining leg length and sitting height. The possible interactions of height, leg length and sitting height with menarche were also analyzed. Risk of both ER-PR- and ER+PR+ malignancies was positively associated with standing height, leg length and sitting height and inversely associated with increasing age at menarche. For ER+PR+ disease, sitting height (hazard ratios: 1.14[95% confidence interval: 1.08-1.20]) had a stronger risk association than leg length (1.05[1.00-1.11]). In comparison, for ER-PR- disease, no distinct differences were observed between leg length and sitting height. Women who were tall and had an early menarche (≤13 years) showed an almost twofold increase in risk of ER+PR+ tumors but no such increase in risk was observed for ER-PR- disease. Indicators of exposures during rapid growth periods were associated with risks of both HR-defined breast cancers. Exposures during childhood promoting faster development may establish risk associations for both HR-positive and -negative malignancies. The stronger associations of the components of height with ER+PR+ tumors among older women suggest possible hormonal links that could be specific for postmenopausal women. Copyright © 2012 UICC.

Long-term in vivo survival of Rh(D)-negative donor red cells in a patient with anti-LW

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chaplin, H.; Hunter, V.L.; Rosche, M.E.; Shirey, R.S.

1985-01-01

The present study documents immediate and long-term survival of crossmatch-incompatible Rh(D)-negative donor red cells in a patient with anti-LW. A 67-year-old group A Rh(D)-positive man was admitted for urgent coronary artery bypass surgery. The direct antiglobulin test (DAT) was weakly positive in two of five laboratories. His serum contained anti-LW (two laboratories); his red cells were LW negative (three antisera). Two siblings were LW-positive. Surgery was delayed, and 3 ml Rh(D)-negative crossmatch-incompatible red cells stored in citrate-phosphate-dextrose-adenine-one were labeled with 25 microCi of 51 Cr and injected. Immediate survival was approximately 100 percent with 92 percent survival at 20 hours. Six daily blood samples showed a decreased red cell lifespan, (T 1/2 . 14 days). Because of medical complications, 4 units of Rh(D)-negative crossmatch-incompatible blood were then transfused without clinical or hemolytic reaction. The anti-IgG DAT became stronger. In vivo survival of the remaining 51 Cr-RBCs became normal (T 1/2 28 days over the succeeding 20 days). Following transfusion, no change in serum antibody strength was demonstrated by double-blind titration of seven coded samples. The observations support modest reduction of lifespan for 3 ml of LW-positive red cells, but normal survival following subsequent transfusion of approximately 700 ml of LW-positive red cells

Negative snakes in JET: evidence for negative shear

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gill, R.D.; Alper, B.; Edwards, A.W.

1994-01-01

The signature of the negative snakes from the soft X-ray cameras is very similar to the more usual snakes except that the localised region of the snake has, compared with its surroundings, decreased rather than increased emission. Circumstances where negative snakes have been seen are reviewed. The negative snake appears as a region of increased resistance and of increased impurity density. The relationship between the shear and the current perturbation is shown, and it seem probable that the magnetic shear is reversed at the point of the negative snake, i.e. that q is decreasing with radius. 6 refs., 6 figs

Negative snakes in JET: evidence for negative shear

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gill, R D; Alper, B; Edwards, A W [Commission of the European Communities, Abingdon (United Kingdom). JET Joint Undertaking; Pearson, D [Reading Univ. (United Kingdom)

1994-07-01

The signature of the negative snakes from the soft X-ray cameras is very similar to the more usual snakes except that the localised region of the snake has, compared with its surroundings, decreased rather than increased emission. Circumstances where negative snakes have been seen are reviewed. The negative snake appears as a region of increased resistance and of increased impurity density. The relationship between the shear and the current perturbation is shown, and it seem probable that the magnetic shear is reversed at the point of the negative snake, i.e. that q is decreasing with radius. 6 refs., 6 figs.

Negative Symptom Dimensions of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale Across Geographical Regions: Implications for Social, Linguistic, and Cultural Consistency.

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Anzalee; Liharska, Lora; Harvey, Philip D; Atkins, Alexandra; Ulshen, Daniel; Keefe, Richard S E