Is It Rational to Assume that Infants Imitate Rationally? A Theoretical Analysis and Critique

It has been suggested that preverbal infants evaluate the efficiency of others' actions (by applying a principle of rational action) and that they imitate others' actions rationally. The present contribution presents a conceptual analysis of the claim that preverbal infants imitate rationally. It shows that this ability rests on at least three assumptions: that infants are able to perceive others' action capabilities, that infants reason about and conceptually represent their own bodies, and that infants are able to think counterfactually. It is argued that none of these three abilities is in place during infancy. Furthermore, it is shown that the idea of a principle of rational action suffers from two fallacies. As a consequence, is it suggested that it is not rational to assume that infants imitate rationally. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Base

Antarctic sea ice region as a source of biogenic organic nitrogen in aerosols

Dall'Osto, Manuel ... et al.-- 10 pages, 5 figuresClimate warming affects the development and distribution of sea ice, but at present the evidence of polar ecosystem feedbacks on climate through changes in the atmosphere is sparse. By means of synergistic atmospheric and oceanic measurements in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica, we present evidence that the microbiota of sea ice and sea ice-influenced ocean are a previously unknown significant source of atmospheric organic nitrogen, including low molecular weight alkyl-amines. Given the keystone role of nitrogen compounds in aerosol formation, growth and neutralization, our findings call for greater chemical and source diversity in the modelling efforts linking the marine ecosystem to aerosol-mediated climate effects in the Southern OceanThe cruise was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy through projects PEGASO (CTM2012-37615) and Bio-Nuc (CGL2013-49020-R), and by the EU though the FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IOF programme (Project number 624680, MANU – Marine Aerosol NUcleations). [...] The NUI Galway and ISAC-CNR Bologna groups acknowledge funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) project BACCHUS under grant agreement n° 603445. The work was further supported by the CNR (Italy) under AirSEaLab: Progetto Laboratori Congiunti. The National Centre for Atmospheric Science NCAS Birmingham group is funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council. [...] CC, MFF and RA acknowledge funding from the Marine Institute, University of Plymouth to enable participation in PEGASOPeer Reviewe

Perception of Thermal Pain and the Thermal Grill Illusion Is Associated with Polymorphisms in the Serotonin Transporter Gene

AIM: The main aim of this study was to assess if the perception of thermal pain thresholds is associated with genetically inferred levels of expression of the 5-HT transporter (5-HTT). Additionally, the perception of the so-called thermal grill illusion (TGI) was assessed. Forty-four healthy individuals (27 females, 17 males) were selected a-priori based on their 5-HTTLPR/rs25531 ('tri-allelic 5-HTTLPR') genotype, with inferred high or low 5-HTT expression. Thresholds for heat- and cold-pain were determined along with the sensory and affective dimensions of the TGI. RESULTS: Thresholds to heat- and cold-pain correlated strongly (rho  = -0.58, p<0.001). Individuals in the low 5-HTT-expressing group were significantly less sensitive to heat-pain (p = 0.02) and cold-pain (p = 0.03), compared to the high-expressing group. A significant gender-by-genotype interaction also emerged for cold-pain perception (p = 0.02); low 5-HTT-expressing females were less sensitive. The TGI was rated as significantly more unpleasant (affective-motivational dimension) than painful (sensory-discriminatory dimension), (p<0.001). Females in the low 5-HTT expressing group rated the TGI as significantly less unpleasant than high 5-HTT expressing females (p<0.05), with no such differences among men. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: We demonstrate an association between inferred low 5-HTT expression and elevated thresholds to thermal pain in healthy non-depressed individuals. Despite the fact that reduced 5-HTT expression is a risk factor for chronic pain we found it to be related to hypoalgesia for threshold thermal pain. Low 5-HTT expression is, however, also a risk factor for depression where thermal insensitivity is often seen. Our results may thus contribute to a better understanding of the molecular underpinnings of such paradoxical hypoalgesia. The results point to a differential regulation of thermoafferent-information along the neuraxis on the basis of 5-HTT expression and gender. The TGI, suggested to rely on the central integration of thermoafferent-information, may prove a valuable tool in probing the affective-motivational dimension of these putative mechanisms

An eight-subunit COP9 signalosome with an intact JAMM motif is required for fungal fruit body formation

Fruit body formation in filamentous fungi is a complex and yet hardly understood process. We show here that protein turnover control is crucial for Aspergillus nidulans development. Deletion of genes encoding COP9 signalosome (CSN) subunits 1, 2, 4, or 5 resulted in identical blocks in fruit body formation. The CSN multiprotein complex controls ubiquitin-dependent protein degradation in eukaryotes. Six CSN subunits interacted in a yeast two-hybrid analysis, and the complete eight-subunit CSN was recruited by a functional tandem affinity purification tag fusion of subunit 5 (CsnE). The tagged CsnE was unable to recruit any CSN subunit in a strain deleted for subunit 1 or subunit 4. Mutations in the JAMM metalloprotease core of CsnE resulted in mutant phenotypes identical to those of csn deletion strains. We propose that a correctly assembled CSN including a functional JAMM links protein turnover to fungal sexual development