The phenomenon of time perspective across different cultures: Review of researches Using ZTPI scale

International audienceOne's preference for certain time orientations is influenced by many factors including culture. The aim of this research was to describe the phenomenon of time perspective in different cultures. The authors carried out re-evaluation of reliability and validity of the Russian version of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI) scale and compared the findings with the original scale as well as with its adapted versions (French and others). The sample consisted of 1136 people aged 14 to 81 from eighteen Russian cities and was divided into seven age groups. As a result, the five-factor structure of the ZTPI was replicated on the Russian sample (reliability and validity proved to be quite high), although certain changes had been made to the test keys because of cultural differences. The five factors of the ZTPI that are similar both in Russian and French samples make it possible to carry out cross-cultural comparisons using this scale. It was also found that women have higher orientation to Past Positive and Present Fatalistic that men. People living in large cities score higher on Present Hedonistic and lower on Future than people living in small town

A Pilot Study on Estimating Players Dispositional Profiles from Game Traces Analysis

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Pyrophosphate-producing protein dephosphorylation by HPr kinase/phosphorylase: A relic of early life?

In most Gram-positive bacteria, serine-46-phosphorylated HPr (P-Ser-HPr) controls the expression of numerous catabolic genes (≈10% of their genome) by acting as catabolite corepressor. HPr kinase/phosphorylase (HprK/P), the bifunctional sensor enzyme for catabolite repression, phosphorylates HPr, a phosphocarrier protein of the sugar-transporting phosphoenolpyruvate/glycose phosphotransferase system, in the presence of ATP and fructose-1,6-bisphosphate but dephosphorylates P-Ser-HPr when phosphate prevails over ATP and fructose-1,6-bisphosphate. We demonstrate here that P-Ser-HPr dephosphorylation leads to the formation of HPr and pyrophosphate. HprK/P, which binds phosphate at the same site as the β phosphate of ATP, probably uses the inorganic phosphate to carry out a nucleophilic attack on the phosphoryl bond in P-Ser-HPr. HprK/P is the first enzyme known to catalyze P-protein dephosphorylation via this phospho–phosphorolysis mechanism. This reaction is reversible, and at elevated pyrophosphate concentrations, HprK/P can use pyrophosphate to phosphorylate HPr. Growth of Bacillus subtilis on glucose increased intracellular pyrophosphate to concentrations (≈6 mM), which in in vitro tests allowed efficient pyrophosphate-dependent HPr phosphorylation. To effectively dephosphorylate P-Ser-HPr when glucose is exhausted, the pyrophosphate concentration in the cells is lowered to 1 mM. In B. subtilis, this might be achieved by YvoE. This protein exhibits pyrophosphatase activity, and its gene is organized in an operon with hprK