Inhibition of vicariously learned fear in children using positive modeling and prior exposure

One of the challenges to conditioning models of fear acquisition is to explain how different individuals can experience similar learning events and only some of them subsequently develop fear. Understanding factors moderating the impact of learning events on fear acquisition is key to understanding the etiology and prevention of fear in childhood. This study investigates these moderators in the context of vicarious (observational) learning. Two experiments tested predictions that the acquisition or inhibition of fear via vicarious learning is driven by associative learning mechanisms similar to direct conditioning. In Experiment 1, 3 groups of children aged 7 to 9 years received 1 of 3 inhibitive information interventions psychoeducation, factual information, or no information (control)—prior to taking part in a vicarious fear learning procedure. In Experiment 2, 3 groups of children aged 7 to 10 years received 1 of 3 observational learning interventions—positive modeling (immunization), observational familiarity (latent inhibition), or no prevention (control)— before vicarious fear learning. Results indicated that observationally delivered manipulations inhibited vicarious fear learning, while preventions presented via written information did not. These findings confirm that vicarious learning shares some of the characteristics of direct conditioning and can explain why not all individuals will develop fear following a vicarious learning event. They also suggest that the modality of inhibitive learning is important and should match the fear learning pathway for increased chances of inhibition. Finally, the results demonstrate that positive modeling is likely to be a particularly effective method for preventing fear-related observational learning in children

Doxycycline-regulated gene expression in the opportunistic fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus

BACKGROUND: Although Aspergillus fumigatus is an important human fungal pathogen there are few expression systems available to study the contribution of specific genes to the growth and virulence of this opportunistic mould. Regulatable promoter systems based upon prokaryotic regulatory elements in the E. coli tetracycline-resistance operon have been successfully used to manipulate gene expression in several organisms, including mice, flies, plants, and yeast. However, the system has not yet been adapted for Aspergillus spp. RESULTS: Here we describe the construction of plasmid vectors that can be used to regulate gene expression in A. fumigatus using a simple co-transfection approach. Vectors were generated in which the tetracycline transactivator (tTA) or the reverse tetracycline transactivator (rtTA2(s)-M2) are controlled by the A. nidulans gpdA promoter. Dominant selectable cassettes were introduced into each plasmid, allowing for selection following gene transfer into A. fumigatus by incorporating phleomycin or hygromycin into the medium. To model an essential gene under tetracycline regulation, the E. coli hygromycin resistance gene, hph, was placed under the control of seven copies of the TetR binding site (tetO(7)) in a plasmid vector and co-transfected into A. fumigatus protoplasts together with one of the two transactivator plasmids. Since the hph gene is essential to A. fumigatus in the presence of hygromycin, resistance to hygromycin was used as a marker of hph reporter gene expression. Transformants were identified in which the expression of tTA conferred hygromycin resistance by activating expression of the tetO(7)-hph reporter gene, and the addition of doxycycline to the medium suppressed hygromycin resistance in a dose-dependent manner. Similarly, transformants were identified in which expression of rtTA2(s)-M2 conferred hygromycin resistance only in the presence of doxycycline. The levels of doxycycline required to regulate expression of the tetO(7)-hph reporter gene were within non-toxic ranges for this organism, and low-iron medium was shown to reduce the amount of doxycycline required to accomplish regulation. CONCLUSIONS: The vectors described in this report provide a new set of options to experimentally manipulate the level of specific gene products in A. fumigatu

THE GLUON DISTRIBUTION AT SMALL x OBTAINED FROM A UNIFIED EVOLUTION EQUATION.

We solve a unified integral equation to obtain the $x, Q_T$ and $Q$ dependence of the gluon distribution of a proton in the small $x$ regime; where $x$ and $Q_T$ are the longitudinal momentum fraction and the transverse momentum of the gluon probed at a scale $Q$. The equation generates a gluon with a steep $x^{- \lambda}$ behaviour, with $\lambda \sim 0.5$, and a $Q_T$ distribution which broadens as $x$ decreases. We compare our solutions with, on the one hand, those that we obtain using the double-leading-logarithm approximation to Altarelli-Parisi evolution and, on the other hand, to those that we determine from the BFKL equation.Comment: LaTeX file with 10 postscript figures (uuencoded

BFKL versus HERA

The BFKL equation and the kT-factorization theorem are used to obtain predictions for F2 in the small Bjorken-x region over a wide range of Q**2. The dependence on the parameters, especially on those concerning the infrared region, is discussed. After a background fit to recent experimental data obtained at HERA and at Fermilab (E665 experiment), we find that the predicted, almost Q**2 independent BFKL slope lambda >= 0.5 appears to be too steep at lower Q**2 values. Thus there seems to be a chance that future HERA data can distinguish between pure BFKL and conventional field theoretic renormalization group approaches.Comment: 26 pages, 6 eps figures, LaTeX2e using epsfig.sty and amssymb.st

When a patient\u27s ethnicity is declared, medical students\u27 decision-making processes are affected

Background: Disparity in health status and healthcare outcomes is widespread and well known. This holds true for Indigenous peoples in many settings including Australia and Hawaii. While multi-factorial, there is increasing evidence of health practitioner contribution to this disparity. This research explored senior medical students’ clinical decision-making processes. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted in 2014 with 30 final year medical students from The University of Melbourne, Australia, and The John Burns Medical School, Hawaii, USA. Each student responded to questions about a paper-based case, first in writing and elaborated further in an interview. Half the students were given a case of a patient whose ethnicity was not declared; the other half considered the patient who was Native Hawaiian or Australian Aboriginal. A systematic thematic analysis of the interview transcripts was conducted. Results: The study detected subtle biases in students’ ways of talking about the Indigenous person and their anticipation of interacting with her as a patient. Four main themes emerged from the interview transcripts: the patient as a person; constructions of the person as patient; patient–student/doctor interactions; and the value of various education settings. There was a strong commitment to the patient’s agenda and to the element of trust in the doctor–patient interaction. Conclusion: These findings will help to advance medical curricula so that institutions graduate physicians who are increasingly able to contribute to equitable outcomes for all patients in their care. The study also draws attention to subtle biases based on ethnicity that may be currently at play in physicians’ practices

Asparagus and Rhubarb

A-6

The description of F2 at small x incorporating angular ordering

We study the perturbative QCD description of the HERA measurements of $F_2 (x, Q^2)$ using a gluon distribution that is obtained from an evolution incorporating angular ordering of the gluon emissions, and which embodies both GLAP and BFKL dynamics. We compare the predictions with recent HERA data for $F_2$. We present estimates of the charm component $F_2^c (x, Q^2)$ and of $F_L (x, Q^2)$.Comment: 8 LaTeX pages + 4 uuencoded figure

Deep inelastic events containing a forward photon as a probe of small xx dynamics

We calculate the rate of producing deep inelastic events containing an energetic isolated forward photon at HERA. We quantify the enhancement arising from the leading $\log 1/x$ gluon emissions with a view to using such events to identify the underlying dynamics.Comment: 11 pages, Latex, 7 ps figure

A unified BFKL and GLAP description of F2F_2 data

We argue that the use of the universal unintegrated gluon distribution and the $k_T$ (or high energy) factorization theorem provides the natural framework for describing observables at small x. We introduce a coupled pair of evolution equations for the unintegrated gluon distribution and the sea quark distribution which incorporate both the resummed leading $ln (1/x)$ BFKL contributions and the resummed leading $ln (Q^2)$ GLAP contributions. We solve these unified equations in the perturbative QCD domain using simple parametic forms of the nonperturbative part of the integrated distributions. With only two (physically motivated) input parameters we find that this $k_T$ factorization approach gives an excellent description of the measurements of $F_2 (x,Q^2)$ at HERA. In this way the unified evolution equations allow us to determine the gluon and sea quark distributions and, moreover, to see the x domain where the resummed $ln (1/x)$ effects become significant. We use $k_T$ factorization to predict the longitudinal structure function $F_L (x,Q^2)$ and the charm component of $F_2 (x,Q^2)$.Comment: 25 pages, LaTeX, 9 figure

Learning to fear a second-order stimulus following vicarious learning

Vicarious fear learning refers to the acquisition of fear via observation of the fearful responses of others. The present study aims to extend current knowledge by exploring whether second-order vicarious fear learning can be demonstrated in children. That is, whether vicariously learnt fear responses for one stimulus can be elicited in a second stimulus associated with that initial stimulus. Results demonstrated that children's (5–11 years) fear responses for marsupials and caterpillars increased when they were seen with fearful faces compared to no faces. Additionally, the results indicated a second-order effect in which fear-related learning occurred for other animals seen together with the fear-paired animal, even though the animals were never observed with fearful faces themselves. Overall, the findings indicate that for children in this age group vicariously learnt fear-related responses for one stimulus can subsequently be observed for a second stimulus without it being experienced in a fear-related vicarious learning event. These findings may help to explain why some individuals do not recall involvement of a traumatic learning episode in the development of their fear of a specific stimulus