Vascular Aging from DNA Damage to Protection

Aging is highly associated with development of cardiovascular disease; however, the underlying mechanisms of these processes are not well understood. Recent advancements in aging research underscore the im

The Effect of the Thioether-Bridged, Stabilized Angiotensin-(1–7) Analogue Cyclic Ang-(1–7) on Cardiac Remodeling and Endothelial Function in Rats with Myocardial Infarction

Modulation of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) by angiotensin-(1–7) (Ang-(1–7)) is an attractive approach to combat the detrimental consequences of myocardial infarction (MI). However Ang-(1–7) has limited clinical potential due to its unfavorable pharmacokinetic profile. We investigated effects of a stabilized, thioether-bridged analogue of Ang-(1–7) called cyclic Ang-(1–7) in rat model of myocardial infarction. Rats underwent coronary ligation or sham surgery. Two weeks thereafter infusion with 0.24 or 2.4 μg/kg/h cAng-(1–7) or saline was started for 8 weeks. Thereafter, cardiac morphometric and hemodynamic variables as wells as aortic endothelial function were measured. The average infarct size was 13.8% and was not changed by cAng-(1–7) treatment. MI increased heart weight and myocyte size, which was restored by cAng-(1–7) to sham levels. In addition, cAng-(1–7) lowered left ventricular end-diastolic pressure and improved endothelial function. The results suggest that cAng-(1–7) is a promising new agent in treatment of myocardial infarction and warrant further research

Non-homologous end-joining pathway associated with occurrence of myocardial infarction: gene set analysis of genome-wide association study data

<p>Purpose: DNA repair deficiencies have been postulated to play a role in the development and progression of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The hypothesis is that DNA damage accumulating with age may induce cell death, which promotes formation of unstable plaques. Defects in DNA repair mechanisms may therefore increase the risk of CVD events. We examined whether the joints effect of common genetic variants in 5 DNA repair pathways may influence the risk of CVD events.</p> <p>Methods: The PLINK set-based test was used to examine the association to myocardial infarction (MI) of the DNA repair pathway in GWAS data of 866 subjects of the GENetic DEterminants of Restenosis (GENDER) study and 5,244 subjects of the PROspective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER) study. We included the main DNA repair pathways (base excision repair, nucleotide excision repair, mismatch repair, homologous recombination and non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ)) in the analysis.</p> <p>Results: The NHEJ pathway was associated with the occurrence of MI in both GENDER (P = 0.0083) and PROSPER (P = 0.014). This association was mainly driven by genetic variation in the MRE11A gene (PGENDER = 0.0001 and PPROSPER = 0.002). The homologous recombination pathway was associated with MI in GENDER only (P = 0.011), for the other pathways no associations were observed.</p> <p>Conclusion: This is the first study analyzing the joint effect of common genetic variation in DNA repair pathways and the risk of CVD events, demonstrating an association between the NHEJ pathway and MI in 2 different cohorts.</p&gt

Teacher Use of Loss-Focused, Utility Value Messages, Prior to High-Stakes Examinations, and Their Appraisal by Students

This study set out to assess a new instrument designed to measure the perceived frequency that teachers use fear appeals (communicated value messages that focus on avoiding failure) prior to a high-stakes examination and their appraisal as a challenge or a threat. Data were collected from two samples of students preparing for their high-stakes school exit examinations. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a three-factor structure of message frequency, challenge, and threat appraisal. Challenge appraisal positively correlated with value, academic self-efficacy, and engagement. Threat appraisal negatively correlated with academic self-efficacy and engagement. Message frequency was unrelated to value, academic self-efficacy, and engagement. The critical factor in determining relations with antecedents and outcomes is not the message frequency but how it is appraised

Process account of curiosity and interest: a reward-learning perspective

Previous studies suggested roles for curiosity and interest in knowledge acquisition and exploration, but there has been a long-standing debate about how to define these concepts and whether they are related or different. In this paper, we address the definition issue by arguing that there is inherent difficulty in defining curiosity and interest, because both curiosity and interest are naïve concepts, which are not supposed to have a priori scientific definitions. We present a reward-learning framework of autonomous knowledge acquisition and use this framework to illustrate the importance of process account as an alternative to advance our understanding of curiosity and interest without being troubled by their definitions. The framework centers on the role of rewarding experience associated with knowledge acquisition and learning and posits that the acquisition of new knowledge strengthens the value of further information. Critically, we argue that curiosity and interest are the concepts that they subjectively construe through this knowledge-acquisition process. Finally, we discuss the implications of the reward-learning framework for education and empirical research in educational psychology

Classroom activities in math and reading in early, middle, and late elementary school

ABSTRACT This study examined activities used during elementary school math and reading instruction. Teachers reported their use of cooperative, competitive, and individual activities in math and reading, their subjective evaluations of teaching each subject, and their level of focus on promoting students' interests. Analyses indicated that teachers used more competitive activities in math than reading. Additionally, individual math activities increased across grades whereas individual reading activities were similar across grades. Finally, the appeal of teaching both reading and math declined across elementary school grade. Results are discussed in terms of teachers' goals and student motivation

RESOLV: Readers' Representation of Reading Contexts and Tasks

International audienceWe introduce RESOLV, a theoretical model to account for readers' construction and management of goals during text comprehension and use. RESOLV focuses on readers' experience of their physical, social, and communicative context prior to actually engaging with texts. RESOLV assumes that readers construct two types of mental models prior to reading: The context model is a representation of the physical and social reading context, whereas the task model is a set of goals and plans that drives readers' decisions and actions in reading. We first present the RESOLV model, and we articulate two core hypotheses. We then present and discuss evidence supporting these hypotheses, from past and more recent research conducted in our labs, as well as in others'. The data support the view that reading decisions and processes are guided by readers' perceptions and attributions regarding the task statement but also more implicit cues from the reading context