1,077 research outputs found
Collective nostalgia: a group-level emotion that confers unique benefits on the group
This research established collective nostalgia as a group-level emotion and ascertained the benefits it confers on the group. In Study 1, participants who reflected on a nostalgic event they had experienced together with ingroup members (collective nostalgia) evaluated the ingroup more positively and reported stronger intentions to approach (and not avoid) ingroup members than those who recalled a nostalgic event they had experienced individually (personal nostalgia), those who reflected on a lucky event they had experienced together with ingroup members (collective positive), and those who did not recall an event (no recall). In Study 2, collective (vs. personal) nostalgia strengthened behavioral intentions to support the ingroup more so than did recalling an ordinary collective (vs. personal) event. Increased collective self-esteem mediated this effect. In Study 3, collective nostalgia (compared with recall of an ordinary collective event) led participants to sacrifice money in order to punish a transgression perpetrated against an ingroup member. This effect of collective nostalgia was more pronounced when social identification was high (compared with low). Finally, in Study 4, collective nostalgia converged toward the group average (i.e., was socially shared) when participants thought of themselves in terms of their group membership. The findings underscore the viability of studying nostalgia at multiple levels of analysis and highlight the significance of collective nostalgia for understanding group-level attitudes, global action tendencies, specific behavioral intentions, and behavior
Functional Characterization of a Novel Family of Acetylcholine-Gated Chloride Channels in Schistosoma mansoni
Acetylcholine is the canonical excitatory neurotransmitter of the mammalian neuromuscular system. However, in the trematode parasite Schistosoma mansoni, cholinergic stimulation leads to muscle relaxation and a flaccid paralysis, suggesting an inhibitory mode of action. Information about the pharmacological mechanism of this inhibition is lacking. Here, we used a combination of techniques to assess the role of cholinergic receptors in schistosome motor function. The neuromuscular effects of acetylcholine are typically mediated by gated cation channels of the nicotinic receptor (nAChR) family. Bioinformatics analyses identified numerous nAChR subunits in the S. mansoni genome but, interestingly, nearly half of these subunits carried a motif normally associated with chloride-selectivity. These putative schistosome acetylcholine-gated chloride channels (SmACCs) are evolutionarily divergent from those of nematodes and form a unique clade within the larger family of nAChRs. Pharmacological and RNA interference (RNAi) behavioral screens were used to assess the role of the SmACCs in larval motor function. Treatment with antagonists produced the same effect as RNAi suppression of SmACCs; both led to a hypermotile phenotype consistent with abrogation of an inhibitory neuromuscular mediator. Antibodies were then generated against two of the SmACCs for use in immunolocalization studies. SmACC-1 and SmACC-2 localize to regions of the peripheral nervous system that innervate the body wall muscles, yet neither appears to be expressed directly on the musculature. One gene, SmACC-1, was expressed in HEK-293 cells and characterized using an iodide flux assay. The results indicate that SmACC-1 formed a functional homomeric chloride channel and was activated selectively by a panel of cholinergic agonists. The results described in this study identify a novel clade of nicotinic chloride channels that act as inhibitory modulators of schistosome neuromuscular function. Additionally, the iodide flux assay used to characterize SmACC-1 represents a new high-throughput tool for drug screening against these unique parasite ion channels
Nonperturbative Renormalization and the QCD Vacuum
We present a self consistent approach to Coulomb gauge Hamiltonian QCD which
allows one to relate single gluon spectral properties to the long range
behavior of the confining interaction. Nonperturbative renormalization is
discussed. The numerical results are in good agreement with phenomenological
and lattice forms of the static potential.Comment: 23 pages in RevTex, 4 postscript figure
Coulomb Gauge QCD, Confinement, and the Constituent Representation
Quark confinement and the genesis of the constituent quark model are examined
in nonperturbative QCD in Coulomb gauge. We employ a self-consistent method to
construct a quasiparticle basis and to determine the quasiparticle interaction.
The results agree remarkably well with lattice computations. They also
illustrate the mechanism by which confinement and constituent quarks emerge,
provide support for the Gribov-Zwanziger confinement scenario, clarify several
perplexing issues in the constituent quark model, and permit the construction
of an improved model of low energy QCD.Comment: 43 pages, 14 figures, revtex, uses psfig.st
Rotating Resonator-Oscillator Experiments to Test Lorentz Invariance in Electrodynamics
In this work we outline the two most commonly used test theories (RMS and
SME) for testing Local Lorentz Invariance (LLI) of the photon. Then we develop
the general framework of applying these test theories to resonator experiments
with an emphasis on rotating experiments in the laboratory. We compare the
inherent sensitivity factors of common experiments and propose some new
configurations. Finally we apply the test theories to the rotating cryogenic
experiment at the University of Western Australia, which recently set new
limits in both the RMS and SME frameworks [hep-ph/0506074].Comment: Submitted to Lecture Notes in Physics, 36 pages, minor modifications,
updated list of reference
Renormalization of Hamiltonian Field Theory; a non-perturbative and non-unitarity approach
Renormalization of Hamiltonian field theory is usually a rather painful
algebraic or numerical exercise. By combining a method based on the coupled
cluster method, analysed in detail by Suzuki and Okamoto, with a Wilsonian
approach to renormalization, we show that a powerful and elegant method exist
to solve such problems. The method is in principle non-perturbative, and is not
necessarily unitary.Comment: 16 pages, version shortened and improved, references added. To appear
in JHE
Recent Experimental Tests of Special Relativity
We review our recent Michelson-Morley (MM) and Kennedy-Thorndike (KT)
experiment, which tests Lorentz invariance in the photon sector, and report
first results of our ongoing atomic clock test of Lorentz invariance in the
matter sector. The MM-KT experiment compares a cryogenic microwave resonator to
a hydrogen maser, and has set the most stringent limit on a number of
parameters in alternative theories to special relativity. We also report first
results of a test of Lorentz invariance in the SME (Standard Model Extension)
matter sector, using Zeeman transitions in a laser cooled Cs atomic fountain
clock. We describe the experiment together with the theoretical model and
analysis. Recent experimental results are presented and we give a first
estimate of components of the parameters of the SME matter
sector. A full analysis of systematic effects is still in progress, and will be
the subject of a future publication together with our final results. If
confirmed, the present limits would correspond to first ever measurements of
some components, and improvements by 11 and 14 orders of
magnitude on others.Comment: 29 pages. Contribution to Springer Lecture Notes, "Special Relativity
- Will it survive the next 100 years ?", Proceedings, Potsdam, 200
Predicting Efavirenz Concentrations in the Brain Tissue of HIV-Infected Individuals and Exploring their Relationship to Neurocognitive Impairment
Sparse data exist on the penetration of antiretrovirals into brain tissue. In this work, we present a framework to use efavirenz (EFV) pharmacokinetic (PK) data in plasma, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and brain tissue of eight rhesus macaques to predict brain tissue concentrations in HIV-infected individuals. We then perform exposure-response analysis with the model-predicted EFV area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) and neurocognitive scores collected from a group of 24 HIV-infected participants. Adult rhesus macaques were dosed daily with 200 mg EFV (as part of a four-drug regimen) for 10 days. Plasma was collected at 8 time points over 10 days and at necropsy, whereas CSF and brain tissue were collected at necropsy. In the clinical study, data were obtained from one paired plasma and CSF sample of participants prescribed EFV, and neuropsychological test evaluations were administered across 15 domains. PK modeling was performed using ADAPT version 5.0 Biomedical Simulation Resource, Los Angeles, CA) with the iterative two-stage estimation method. An eight-compartment model best described EFV distribution across the plasma, CSF, and brain tissue of rhesus macaques and humans. Model-predicted median brain tissue concentrations in humans were 31 and 8,000 ng/mL, respectively. Model-predicted brain tissue AUC was highly correlated with plasma AUC (γ = 0.99, P 0.05). This analysis provides an approach to estimate PK the brain tissue in order to perform PK/pharmacodynamic analyses at the target site. © 2019 The Authors. Clinical and Translational Science published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
The BES f_0(1810): a new glueball candidate
We analyze the f_0(1810) state recently observed by the BES collaboration via
radiative J/\psi decay to a resonant \phi\omega spectrum and confront it with
DM2 data and glueball theory. The DM2 group only measured \omega\omega decays
and reported a pseudoscalar but no scalar resonance in this mass region. A
rescattering mechanism from the open flavored KKbar decay channel is considered
to explain why the resonance is only seen in the flavor asymmetric \omega\phi
branch along with a discussion of positive C parity charmonia decays to
strengthen the case for preferred open flavor glueball decays. We also
calculate the total glueball decay width to be roughly 100 MeV, in agreement
with the narrow, newly found f_0, and smaller than the expected estimate of
200-400 MeV. We conclude that this discovered scalar hadron is a solid glueball
candidate and deserves further experimental investigation, especially in the
K-Kbar channel. Finally we comment on other, but less likely, possible
assignments for this state.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures. Major substantive additions, including an
ab-initio, QCD-based computation of the glueball inclusive decay width,
evaluation of final state effects, and enhanced discussion of several
alternative possibilities. Our conclusions are unchanged: the BES f_0(1810)
is a promising glueball candidat
Modelo agrometeorolĂłgico para estimativa da produtividade para a cultura da soja no Estado de SĂŁo Paulo
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