The Dark Triad of Personality: A Discussion of the Moral and Evolutionary Implications

Individuals who exhibit the Dark Triad traits of personality are considered to be among the most troublesome members of society. This review seeks to investigate how the dark traits displayed by these persons adversely impact their moral behavior as a product of evolutionary development and adaptation, and as mediated by the BFAS aspect of Compassion. Participants in the present study completed an extensive questionnaire that included measures of general personality traits, psychopathy, the Dark Triad of personality, assignment of moral weight, sociosexuality, infidelity, and myriad additional demographic features. Predictions for the correlations between the Dark Triad traits, moral assignment, Compassion, and evolutionary based measures were generally supported

Trophic Factors and Cytokines in Early Diabetic Glomerulopathy

The intent of this review is to focus on recent advances in the understanding of the factors responsible for the progressive pathologic features of diabetic kidney disease, with special attention to various growth factors and cytokines that appear to be important in this process. In addition, emphasis is centered on relatively early stages of the disease, because animal models have been most helpful to date in understanding this stage of the disease process. Although tubulointerstitial changes are of critical importance in the progression of diabetic nephropathy, especially in the evolution to end-stage renal disease, there is a general consensus that glomerular pathology occurs first. Therefore, attention is limited to factors that may be important in the development of early diabetic glomerulopathy, including transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β), insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A, and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF)

Remote Sensing and the Earth

A text book on remote sensing, as part of the earth resources Skylab programs, is presented. The fundamentals of remote sensing and its application to agriculture, land use, geology, water and marine resources, and environmental monitoring are summarized

The role of gender in the relations among Dark Triad and psychopathy, sociosexuality, and moral judgments

The Dark Triad (D3) traits of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy have been linked to a range of moral behavior, and to sociosexuality and sexual behavior, particularly in males. The current study examined whether males and females differ with respect to relations among D3 traits and dimensions of psychopathy from the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM), sexual behavior, sociosexuality, tendency towards infidelity, and moral judgments, using a community sample. D3 and TriPM measures were generally more strongly correlated with sexual behavior for males in ways that might increase numbers of matings and sexual partners, but were more strongly correlated with intention towards infidelity and sociosexual attitudes for females—in ways that might facilitate extra-pair mating. Sociosexuality and self-reported sexual behavior showed a strong pattern of overall and gender-specific relations to moral judgments. D3 and psychopathy measures were also related to everyday moral judgments, although generally less so than were sociosexuality and sexual behavior. These results clearly point to the importance of taking gender into account when considering the relations between D3 traits, sexual behavior, sociosexuality, and moral judgments

Flows in the solar atmosphere due to the eruptions on the 15th July, 2002

<p>Which kind of flows are present during flares? Are they compatible with the present understanding of energy release and which model best describes the observations? We analyze successive flare events in order to answer these questions. The flares were observed in the magnetically complex NOAA active region (AR) 10030 on 15 July 2002. One of them is of GOES X-class. The description of these flares and how they relate to the break-out model is presented in Gary & Moore (2004). The Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer on board SOHO observed this active region for around 14 h. The observed emission lines provided data from the transition region to the corona with a field of view covering more than half of the active region. In this paper we analyse the spatially resolved flows seen in the atmosphere from the preflare to the flare stages. We find evidence for evaporation occurring before the impulsive phase. During the main phase, the ongoing magnetic reconnection is demonstrated by upflows located at the edges of the flare loops (while downflows are found in the flare loops themselves). We also report the impact of a filament eruption on the atmosphere, with flows up to 300 km s<sup>-1</sup> observed at transition-region temperatures in regions well away from the location of the pre-eruptive filament. Our results are consistent with the predictions of the break out model before the impulsive phase of the flare; while, as the flare progresses, the directions of the flows are consistent with flare models invoking evaporation followed by cooling and downward plasma motions in the flare loops.</p&gt

The Structure and Properties of Solar Active Regions and Quiet-Sun Areas Observed in Soft X-Rays with Yohkoh/SXT and in the Extreme-Ultraviolet with SERTS

We observed two solar active regions (NOAA regions 7563 and 7565), quiet-Sun areas, and a coronal hole region simultaneously with Goddard Space Flight Center's Solar EUV Rocket Telescope and Spectrograph (SERTS) and with the Yohkoh Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) on 1993 August 17. SERTS provided spatially resolved active region and quiet-Sun slit spectra in the 280 to 420 A wavelength range, and images in the lines of He II λ303.8, Mg IX λ368.1, Fe XV λ284.1, and Fe XVI λλ335.4 and 360.8 SXT provided images through multiple broadband filters in both the full-frame imaging mode and the partial-frame imaging mode. The SERTS images in Fe XV (log Tmax = 6.33, where Tmax is the temperature which maximizes the fractional ion abundance in the available ionization equilibrium calculations, i.e., the formation temperature) and Fe XVI (log Tmax = 6.43) exhibit remarkable morphological similarity to the SXT images. Whereas the Fe XV and XVI images outline the loop structures seen with SXT, the cooler He II (log Tmax = 4.67) and Mg IX (log Tmax = 5.98) images outline loop footpoints. In addition, the Mg IX emission outlines other structures not necessarily associated with the hot loops; these may be cool (T 1 × 106 K) loops. From the spatially resolved slit spectra, we obtained emission-line profiles for lines of He II λ303.8, Mg IX λ368.1, Fe XIII λ348.2, Si XI λ303.3, Fe XIV λ334.2, Fe XV λ284.1, and Fe XVI λ335.4 for each spatial position. Based upon the spatial variations of the line intensities, active region 7563 systematically narrows when viewed with successively hotter lines, and appears narrowest in the broadband soft X-ray emission. The active region width (full width at half-maximum intensity) diminishes linearly with log Tmax; the linear fit yields an extrapolated effective log Tmax of 6.51 ± 0.01 for the X-ray emission. The most intense, central core straddles the magnetic neutral line. Active region and quiet-Sun one-dimensional temperature scans were derived from intensity ratios of spatially resolved SERTS slit spectral lines, and from coregistered SXT filter ratios. The highest plasma temperatures were measured in the most intense, central core of region 7563. The temperatures derived from Fe XVI λ335.4/Fe XV λ284.1 and Fe XVI λ335.4/Fe XIV λ334.2 vary significantly (based upon the measurement uncertainties) but not greatly (factors of less than 1.5) across the slit. The average log T values derived from the above two ratios for region 7563 are 6.39 ± 0.04 and 6.32 ± 0.02, respectively. Somewhat larger systematic variations were obtained from all available SXT filter ratios. The average active region log T values derived from the SXT AlMgMn/thin Al, thick Al/thin Al, and thick Al/AlMgMn filter ratios are 6.33 ± 0.03, 6.45 ± 0.02, and 6.49 ± 0.03, respectively. Active region and quiet-Sun one-dimensional density scans were derived from intensity ratios of spatially resolved SERTS slit spectral lines of Fe XIII and Fe XIV. The derived densities show neither systematic nor significant variations along the slit in either the active region or the quiet-Sun, despite the fact that the intensities themselves vary substantially. This indicates that the product of the volume filling factor and the path length (fΔl) must be greater by factors of 3-5 in the active region core than in the outskirts. Furthermore, the derived active region densities are ~2 times the quiet-Sun densities. This density difference is adequate to explain the factor of ~4 intensity difference in Fe XII and Fe XIII between the active and quiet areas, but it is not adequate to explain the factor of ~8 intensity difference in Fe XIV between the active and quiet areas. We attribute the latter to a greater fΔl in the active regions. Statistically significant Doppler shifts are not detected in region 7563 or in the quiet-Sun with any of the EUV lines

Inability of Serotonin to Activate the c-Jun N-terminal Kinase and p38 Kinase Pathways in Rat Aortic Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

BACKGROUND: Serotonin (5-HT, 5-hydroxytryptamine) activates the Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase (ERK)/ Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) pathways, in vascular smooth muscle cells. Parallel MAPK pathways, the c-Jun N-terminal Kinase (JNK) and p38 pathway, are activated by stimulators of the ERK/MAPK pathway. We hypothesized that 5-HT would activate the JNK and p38 pathways in rat vascular smooth muscle cells. RESULTS: Results were determined using standard Western analysis and phosphospecific JNK and p38 antibodies. No significant activation by 5-HT (10(-9) – 10(-5) M; 30 min) of the JNK or p38 pathways, as measured by protein phosphorylation, was observed in any of these experiments. These experiments were repeated in the presence of the serine/threonine phosphatase inhibitor okadaic acid (1 uM) and the tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor sodium orthovanadate (1 uM) to maximize any observable signal. Even under these optimized conditions, no activation of the JNK or p38 pathways by 5-HT was observed. Time course experiments (5-HT 10(-5) M; 5 min, 15 min, 30 min and 60 min) showed no significant activation of JNK after incubation with 5-HT at any time point. However, we detected strong activation of JNK p54 and p46 (5- and 7 fold increases in bands p54 and p46, respectively over control levels) by anisomycin (500 ng/ml, 30 min). Similarly, a JNK activity assay failed to reveal activation of JNK by 5-HT, in contrast to the strong stimulation by anisomycin. CONCLUSION: Collectively, these data support the conclusion that 5-HT does not activate the JNK or p38 pathways in rat vascular smooth muscle cells

Retrophylogenomics place tarsiers on the evolutionary branch of anthropoids

One of the most disputed issues in primate evolution and thus of our own primate roots, is the phylogenetic position of the Southeast Asian tarsier. While much molecular data indicate a basal place in the primate tree shared with strepsirrhines (prosimian monophyly hypothesis), data also exist supporting either an earlier divergence in primates (tarsier-first hypothesis) or a close relationship with anthropoid primates (Haplorrhini hypothesis). The use of retroposon insertions embedded in the Tarsius genome afforded us the unique opportunity to directly test all three hypotheses via three pairwise genome alignments. From millions of retroposons, we found 104 perfect orthologous insertions in both tarsiers and anthropoids to the exclusion of strepsirrhines, providing conflict-free evidence for the Haplorrhini hypothesis, and none supporting either of the other two positions. Thus, tarsiers are clearly the sister group to anthropoids in the clade Haplorrhini

Maintenance of GLUT4 expression in smooth muscle prevents hypertension‐induced changes in vascular reactivity

Previous studies have shown that expression of GLUT4 is decreased in arterial smooth muscle of hypertensive rats and mice and that total body overexpression of GLUT4 in mice prevents enhanced arterial reactivity in hypertension. To demonstrate that the effect of GLUT4 overexpression on vascular responses is dependent on vascular smooth muscle GLUT4 rather than on some systemic effect we developed and tested smooth‐muscle‐specific GLUT4 transgenic mice (SMG4). When made hypertensive with angiotensin II, both wild‐type and SMG4 mice exhibited similarly increased systolic blood pressure. Responsiveness to phenylephrine, serotonin, and prostaglandin F2α was significantly increased in endothelium‐intact aortic rings from hypertensive wild‐type mice but not in aortae of SMG4 mice. Inhibition of Rho‐kinase equally reduced serotonin‐stimulated contractility in aortae of hypertensive wild‐type and SMG4‐mice. In addition, acetylcholine‐stimulated relaxation was significantly decreased in aortic rings of hypertensive wild‐type mice, but not in rings of SMG4 mice. Inhibition of either prostacylin receptors or cyclooxygenase‐2 reduced relaxation in rings of hypertensive SMG4 mice. Inhibition of cyclooxygenase‐2 had no effect on relaxation in rings of hypertensive wild‐type mice. Cyclooxygenase‐2 protein expression was decreased in hypertensive wild‐type aortae but not in hypertensive SMG4 aortae compared to nonhypertensive controls. Our results demonstrate that smooth muscle expression of GLUT4 exerts a major effect on smooth muscle contractile responses and endothelium‐dependent vasorelaxation and that normal expression of GLUT4 in vascular smooth muscle is required for appropriate smooth muscle and endothelial responses.e12299In the smooth muscle of aortae of hypertensive mice, expression of GLUT4 is decreased. Maintenance of aortic smooth muscle GLUT4 expression prevents hypertension‐mediated changes in vasomotor response. These effects include decreasing/preventing endothelial dysfunction.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110755/1/phy212299.pd

Glucose transporters in diabetic nephropathy

Changes in glucose transporter expression in glomerular cells occur early in diabetes. These changes, especially the GLUT1 increase in mesangial cells, appear to play a pathogenic role in the development of ECM expansion and perhaps other features of diabetic nephropathy. In addition, it appears that at least some diabetic patients may be predisposed to nephropathy because of polymorphisms in their GLUT1 genes. GLUT1 overexpression leads to increased glucose metabolic flux which in turn triggers the polyol pathway and activation of PKCα and Β1. Activation of these PKC isoforms can lead directly to AP-1 induced increases in fibronectin expression and ECM accumulation. Other, more novel effects of GLUT1 on cellular hypertrophy and injury could also promote changes of diabetic nephropathy. Strategies to prevent GLUT1 overexpression could ameliorate or prevent the progression of diabetic nephropathy.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47826/1/467_2004_Article_1748.pd