Depletion of Ca2+ from the sarcoplasmic reticulum of cardiac muscle prompts phosphorylation of phospholamban to stimulate store refilling

Nonmuscle cells have almost ubiquitously evolved a mechanism to detect and prevent Ca(2+) store depletionstore operated calcium entry. No such mechanism has, as yet, been reported in cardiac myocytes. However, it is conceivable that such a mechanism may play an important role in cardiac Ca(2+) homeostasis to ensure the availability of sufficient stored Ca(2+) to maintain normal excitation contraction coupling. We present data that confirms the presence of a mechanism that is able to monitor the Ca(2+) load of the SR and initiate a signaling process to accelerate Ca(2+) uptake by the SR when store depletion is detected. Depletion of SR Ca(2+) activates a protein kinase, the principal SR substrate of which is phospholamban. Phosphorylation of this SR protein promotes Ca(2+) pump activity and therefore store refilling. Furthermore, a protein kinase activity associated with the SR that is inhibited by Ca(2+) ions has been identified. We have measured lumenal [Ca(2+)] by using a fluorescent Ca(2+) indicator and found that by initiating Ca(2+) uptake and increasing Ca(2+) load, we can inhibit the protein kinase activity associated with the SR. This confirms that a protein kinase, that is regulated by lumenal [Ca(2+)], has been identified and represents part of a previously unidentified signalling cascade. This local feedback mechanism would allow the myocyte to detect and prevent SR Ca(2+) load depletio

The Role of Prosocial Behaviors in Mate Choice: a Critical Review of the Literature

Research has focused on the role of prosocial behaviors in mate choice, across both social and evolutionary psychology. Several studies provide strong support for the role of altruism in mate choice, whereby people find prosociality attractive in potential mates. As most research focuses on the role of altruism in mate choice, most research has found that people exhibit altruism towards attractive people, suggesting altruistic behavior is driven by mate choice motivation. Although studies have supported the notion that men’s altruism towards women is driven by mate choice, the findings are inconsistent, which may be due to the methodologies adopted by researchers. To our knowledge, this review paper is the first to critically review the literature concerning prosociality and mate choice. We provide an outline of the research thus far, methodological issues, and considerations for future research

A study of the regulation of calcium homeostasis in mammalian cells

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN007162 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Human Mate Choice

This is an accepted manuscript of a chapter due to be published by Springer in the Encyclopedia of Heroism Studies edited by Scott T. Allison, James K. Beggan & George R. Goethals, available online: https://link.springer.com/referencework/10.1007/978-3-031-17125-3 The accepted manuscript may differ from the final published version. For re-use please see Springer's terms and condition

The value of pro-environmental behaviour in mate choice

Previous research shows that prosocial behaviour such as altruism is important in mate choice. A plethora of research shows that people are attracted to prosocial mates, and in turn, display prosocial behaviours towards those they find attractive. However, most of this research has focused on everyday forms of prosociality. Here, we apply this theoretical framework to pro-environmental behaviours, which are important prosocial behaviours, considering there is a time cost involved in engaging in such behaviours. In addition, encouraging people to engage in pro-environmental behaviours has great implications for the protection of our planet. Here, across two experiments, we successfully show that engaging in pro-environmental behaviours can increase one’s desirability in the mating market (experiment 1, n = 157) and that people display a motivation to engage in pro-environmental behaviours in the presence of attractive, opposite sex targets (experiment 2, n = 307). We therefore show that it could be possible to increase pro-environmental behaviours via mate choice motivation and also demonstrate their positive role in mate evaluation. These findings have implications for marketing and increasing environmental behaviour through the lens of evolutionary theory. Note: data and materials for both experiments are available on the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/g42bd/?view_only=916a807650ab4f77ae66b3fc56021752)

The Psychology of Prosocial Behavior: an Introduction to a Special Issue

We are pleased to introduce our special issue for Current Psychology titled The Psychology of Prosocial Behavior. Researchers have long sought to empirically and philosophically explore why people are prosocial to others. Explanations have derived from a variety of disciplinary frameworks including economics, psychology, anthropology, biology, and philosophy. The collection of papers in this special issue showcase the diversity of approaches in psychology whereby people aim to understand prosocial behavior, ranging from evolutionary psychology to developmental psychology. We would like to thank Prof. Richard Ferraro, editor-in-chief of Current Psychology for supporting us in bringing you this special issue. He has provided an insightful editorial introduction to our special issue in Ferraro (2019). We would also like to thank the reviewers who took time out of their busy schedules to review the papers which were both accepted and rejected.Published onlin

Immunity in the bovine to T. congolense induced by self cure or chemotherapy

Meeting: Conference on Recent Advances in the Knowledge of Pathogenicity of Trypanosomes, 20-23 Nov. 1978, Nairobi, KEIn IDL-329

The Roles of Altruism, Heroism, and Physical Attractiveness in Female Mate Choice

The role of prosocial behaviour in female mate choice has been extensively explored, focusing on the desirability of altruism in potential mates, as well as altruism being a mating signal. However, little research has focused on the desirability of heroism and altruism in potential partners. Furthermore, the synergistic effect of attractiveness on the desirability of prosocial behavior has only recently been explored, and to our knowledge, has not explored in relation to the desirability of heroism in a romantic partner. We explored the effect of prosociality and attractiveness on female desirability ratings (n=198), and whether desirability was influenced by whether women were seeking a short-term or long-term relationship. We find that women are attracted to men who display heroism and altruism, and this preference is higher when the male is attractive compared to unattractive. Furthermore, preferences for prosocial traits were higher when seeking a long-term compared to a short-term partner. Our findings add to the literature on prosocial behaviour and mate choice. Data and materials [https://osf.io/a76p8/?view_only=95408822fa9f447bb93ba37ad7bae84b]

The role of altruistic costs in human mate choice

There is a large body of research exploring the role of altruism in mate choice, showing altruism is a mating signal. However, it is still unclear whether these traits signal good genetic quality, due to their costly nature, or good partner/parenting qualities. We report the findings of three experiments that aimed to address this, by comparing the desirability of individuals who displayed either moderate or high levels of altruistic behaviour, and non-altruistic behaviour in dictator games and hypothetical social scenarios. These experiments adopted a variety of experimental designs to test our hypotheses. We consistently found that individuals displaying moderate levels of altruism were rated as more desirable than those displaying higher levels (and both more so than non-altruistic individuals). Our findings offer strong evidence for the underlying characteristics displayed by altruistic behaviour, rather than their absolute costs, being more important in mate choice. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to report a suite of experiments providing strong support that the cost of an altruistic act is more important than the act itself in a mate choice context. These findings go beyond and extend previous literature on altruism and mating by unpacking the role of prosociality in mate choice