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Cytosolic Phospholipase A2α and Eicosanoids Regulate Expression of Genes in Macrophages Involved in Host Defense and Inflammation

Acknowledgments: We thank Dr. Robert Barkley and Charis Uhlson for mass spectrometry analysis. Funding: This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health HL34303 (to C.C.L., R.C.M. and D.L.B), DK54741 (to J.V.B.), GM5322 (to D.L.W.) and the Wellcome Trust (to N.A.R.G. and G.D.B.). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

When the Need to Belong Goes Wrong: The Expression of Social Anhedonia and Social Anxiety in Daily Life

Baumeister and Leary (1995) proposed that people possess an innate “need to belong” that drives social interactions. Aberrations in the need to belong, such as social anhedonia and anxiety, provide a point of entry for examining this need. The current study employed experience sampling methodology to explore deviations in the belongingness need in the daily lives of 245 undergraduates. PDAs signaled participants eight times daily for a week to complete questionnaires regarding affect, thoughts, and behaviors. As predicted, social anhedonia was associated with increased time alone, a preference for solitude, and lower positive affect. Social anxiety, on the other hand, was associated with higher negative affect and unassociated with time alone. Furthermore, social anxiety was associated with greater self-consciousness and preference to be alone while interacting with unfamiliar people. Thus, deviations in the belongingness need affect social functioning differently depending on whether the belongingness need is absent or thwarted

Many worlds in one

A generic prediction of inflation is that the thermalized region we inhabit is spatially infinite. Thus, it contains an infinite number of regions of the same size as our observable universe, which we shall denote as \O-regions. We argue that the number of possible histories which may take place inside of an \O-region, from the time of recombination up to the present time, is finite. Hence, there are an infinite number of \O-regions with identical histories up to the present, but which need not be identical in the future. Moreover, all histories which are not forbidden by conservation laws will occur in a finite fraction of all \O-regions. The ensemble of \O-regions is reminiscent of the ensemble of universes in the many-world picture of quantum mechanics. An important difference, however, is that other \O-regions are unquestionably real.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, comments and references adde

Isolation and characterization of the full-length cDNA encoding a member of a novel cytochrome p450 family (CYP320A1) from the tropical freshwater snail, Biomphalaria glabrata, intermediate host for Schistosoma mansoni

Cytochrome p450s (cyp450s) are a family of structurally related proteins, with diverse functions, including steroid synthesis and breakdown of toxins. This paper reports the full-length sequence of a novel cyp450 gene, the first to be isolated from the tropical freshwater snail Biomphalaria glabrata, an important intermediate host of Schistosoma mansoni. The nucleotide sequence is 2291 bp with a predicted amino acid sequence of 584aa. The sequence demonstrates conserved cyp450 structural motifs, but is sufficiently different from previously reported cyp450 sequences to be given a new classification, CYP320A1. Initially identified as down-regulated in partially resistant snails in response to S. mansoni infection, amplification of this gene using RT-PCR in both totally resistant or susceptible snail lines when exposed to infection, and all tissues examined, suggests ubiquitous expression. Characterization of the first cyp450 from B. glabrata is significant in understanding the evolution of these metabolically important proteins

Wild ungulates and shrub control interact to restore herbaceous vegetation in shrub-encroached mesic grassland of South Africa

Shrub encroachment threatens grassland ecosystem services including herbaceous plant diversity, productivity, and overall grazing capacity. Hence, various shrub control methods including mechanical removal and herbicides are applied to restore herbaceous vegetation. However, the knowledge regarding the outcomes of integrated shrub management on herbaceous vegetation is limited. We investigated herbaceous vegetation responses after 7 years following the integration of shrub control and herbivory at Telperion Nature Reserve, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. In a split-plot experiment using four enclosures and non-enclosures as main plots, we randomly assigned each of the following treatments in four 4 × 4-m subplots in each main plot: 1) foliar metsulfuron-methyl herbicide, 2) 50% mechanical shrub removal, 3) 100% removal, and 4) no removal (untreated controls). A one-off Seriphium plumosum removal and the application of species-specific herbicide were conducted in 2015. Shrub control by herbivory interaction was significant (p < 0.05) for herbaceous canopy cover, basal cover, density, and species richness. The effects of herbivory were significant (p < 0.05) in the 50% removal treatment, increasing herbaceous plant diversity, density, and richness to the same level as 100% removal and herbicide treatments. In enclosures, however, the 50% shrub removal treatment attained relatively low herbaceous plant cover, density, species diversity, and richness compared to the herbicide treatment. Overall, this study revealed that herbivory and shrub control interact to facilitate herbaceous vegetation restoration, with 50% shrub removal by herbivory combination showing potential for management of S. plumosum-encroached grasslands

Improving Confidence in Crystal Structure Solutions Using NMR Crystallography: The Case of β-Piroxicam

NMR crystallographic techniques are used to validate a structure of β-piroxicam determined from powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) with a relatively poor R-factor. Geometry optimization of PXRD- and single-crystal XRD- derived structures results in convergence to the same energy of the structures, with minimal atomic displacements, and good agreement of gauge-included projector augmented wave (GIPAW) calculated and experimentally determined NMR 1H, 13C, and 15N chemical shifts, and 14N quadrupolar parameters. Calculations on isolated molecules combined with 2D magic-angle spinning (MAS) 1H double-quantum (DQ) and 14N–1H NMR experiments confirm the 3D packing arrangement of β-piroxicam. NMR crystallography is shown to be an effective means of validating crystal structures that might otherwise be considered sceptically on the basis of diffraction data alone

For Whom the Mind Wanders, and When: An Experience- Sampling Study of Working Memory and Executive Control in Daily Life

An experience-sampling study of 124 under-graduates, pretested on complex memory-span tasks, examined the relation between working memory capacity (WMC) and the experience of mind wandering in daily life. Over 7 days, personal digital assistants signaled subjects eight times daily to report immediately whether their thoughts had wandered from their current activity, and to describe their psychological and physical context. WMC moderated the relation between mind wandering and activities‘ cognitive demand. During challenging activities requiring concentration and effort, higher-WMC subjects maintained on-task thoughts better, and mind-wandered less, than did lower-WMC subjects. The results were there-fore consistent with theories of WMC emphasizing the role of executive attention and control processes in determining individual differences and their cognitive consequences

The expression of bipolar spectrum psychopathology in daily life

Background Bipolar psychopathology has traditionally been defined by categorical diagnoses. However, these disorders may simply reflect the extremes of a broader spectrum of clinical and subclinical bipolar psychopathology. Method The present study examined the validity of the Hypomanic Personality Scale (HPS) as a measure of bipolar spectrum psychopathology in 305 young adults using experience sampling methodology. The participants completed the HPS and were signaled randomly eight times daily for seven days to complete brief questionnaires on their current experiences. Results High HPS scores were associated with elevated energetic-enthusiasm, irritability, dysphoria, flight of ideas, mild grandiose beliefs, and risky behavior, as well as increased variability in affect in daily life. High HPS scores were also associated with greater reactivity in negative affect and behavior in response to viewing themselves as unsuccessful in their activities. Limitations It is not clear to what extent the participants had diagnosable bipolar disorders. Conclusions The findings support a broader spectrum of bipolar psychopathology and the validity of the HPS as a measure of this construct