Looking Good With Flickr Faves: Gaussian Processes for Finding Difference Makers in Personality Impressions

Flickr allows its users to generate galleries of "faves", i.e., pictures that they have tagged as favourite. According to recent studies, the faves are predictive of the personality traits that people attribute to Flickr users. This article investigates the phenomenon and shows that faves allow one to predict whether a Flickr user is perceived to be above median or not with respect to each of the Big-Five Traits (accuracy up to 79\% depending on the trait). The classifier - based on Gaussian Processes with a new kernel designed for this work - allows one to identify the visual characteristics of faves that better account for the prediction outcome

La tempête de verglas : une occasion d’étudier les effets du stress prénatal chez l’enfant et la mère

Depuis plusieurs années, des études ont démontré que les événements stressants pendant la grossesse affectent le niveau de développement neurologique, de même que le fonctionnement cognitif et psychologique ultérieurs de l'enfant. Par exemple, Mednick (1997) a examiné l'impact d'un important séisme survenu en Chine sur le développement intellectuel et psychologique d'enfants à naître. Vingt-trois ans plus tard, des différences significatives dans le fonctionnement intellectuel, la dépression et la taille de certaines régions du cerveau ont été constatées chez ce groupe en comparaison aux enfants du groupe témoin. Des événements de moindre envergure, tels un divorce ou la perte d'emploi durant la grossesse, peuvent également augmenter l'incidence des complications obstétricales et avoir un impact sur le fonctionnement neurologique du bébé, son poids à la naissance et la circonférence de sa tête. Le décès du père ou l'exposition à un désastre naturel durant la grossesse ont été associés à la dépression, à la schizophrénie et à la criminalité à l'âge adulte. Divers effets adverses reliés aux événements stressants ont aussi été notés chez les primates. L'ensemble de ces études suggèrent que le second trimestre de la grossesse constitue une période critique pendant laquelle les événements stressants peuvent affecter le développement du foetus. Des contraintes méthodologiques nuisent actuellement à la recherche sur le stress prénatal maternel. Les études sur des animaux offrent d'excellents contrôles des environnements prénatal et postnatal. Cependant, les résultats de ces études sont difficilement applicables à l'humain à cause de la présence chez ce dernier, de nombreux facteurs de risque ou de protection absents chez les animaux. De plus, on ne peut assigner les stresseurs de façon aléatoire, dans les études sur les effets des événements de vie pendant la grossesse humaine. En effet, les traits de personnalité de la mère peuvent être transmis certes génétiquement mais également au niveau du développement. Par ailleurs, les enfants d'une mère avec de telles difficultés de personnalité sont exposés à plus d'événements de vie prénatale. D'autre part, la majorité des études sur l'humain ont une variance restreinte car il faut un très vaste échantillon de femmes enceintes pour garantir un nombre suffisant de sujets ayant vécu des événements de vie majeurs. Finalement, les études rétrospectives démontrant un lien entre un risque élevé de schizophrénie ou de dépression et des événements prénataux n'incluent pas de mesures prises sur le champ de la gravité objective ou de la manifestation biologique du stress. Nous présentons ici une revue de littérature portant sur le stress prénatal suivie d'une discussion sur comment la tempête de verglas de 1998 pourrait être utilisée pour faire la lumière sur des questions telles que les mécanismes par lesquels le stress prénatal exerce une influence sur la santé mentale du foetus.Over the last several years, studies have shown that stressful experiences during the pregnancy can predict levels of neurological development, as well as cognitive and psychological functioning, during childhood and adulthood. For example, Mednick (1997) has been studying the effects of a major earthquake in China on the psychological and intellectual development of the unborn child. Twenty-three years after the quake, significant differences have been found between the earthquake group and a control group born one year later in terms of intellectual functioning, depression, and the size of certain brain regions. Less severe events, such as a divorce or job loss during the pregnancy, may also increase the risk of obstetric complications and may have an effect on the baby's neurological well being, weight and head circumference at birth. Death of the baby's father during the pregnancy and natural disasters have both been associated with increased rates of depression, schizophrenia and criminality in adulthood. Several of these same effects have been found in studies of prenatal stress in non-human primates. Many of these studies suggest that the second trimester of pregnancy is a particularly critical period during which stressful events may compromise development of the fetus. Methodological constraints limit research on prenatal maternal stress. Animal studies are able to control for pre- and postnatal environments. However, animal studies have limited generalizability to humans for whom numerous risk and protective factors are in operation. Studies of human pregnancies cannot randomly assign subjects to stress conditions. Maternal personality and temperament may be associated with characteristics of a woman's child not only through genetic transmission of personality, but possibly also through differential exposure to difficult life conditions which may, in part, be self-imposed. In addition, studies of prenatal life events in humans have severely restricted variance; very large samples of women must be screened to identify even small numbers of women who have experienced major life events during the pregnancy. Finally, follow-back studies which show an association between prenatal events and later rates of mental illness, do not include timely evaluations of actual rates of exposure to the event, nor the pregnant woman's subjective or biological reactions to the event. In this paper, we present a review of the literature on prenatal maternal stress followed by a discussion of how the January 1998 Québec ice storm could be used to study the mechanisms by which prenatal stress may influence mental health outcomes in the unborn child.Desde hace varios años, estudios han demostrado que los hechos estresantes durante el embarazo afectan el grado de desarrollo neurológico, como posteriormente el funcionamiento cognoscitivo y psicológico del niño. Por ejemplo, Mednick (1997) examinó el impacto de un terremoto importante occurrido en China en el desarrollo intelectual y psicológico del futuro niño. Veintitres años después, diferencias significativas fueron constatadas en en funcionamiento intelectual, la depresión y la dimensión de ciertas regiones del cerebro en este grupo, comparativamente a un grupo testigo. Hechos de menor envergadura como el divorcio o la pérdida del empleo durante el embarazo pueden igualmente aumentar la incidencia de las complicaciones obstétricas y tener un impacto en el funcionamiento neurológico del bebé, su peso en el nacimiento y la circunferencia de la cabeza. La muerte del padre o la exposición a un desastre natural durante el embarazo han sido asociados a la depresión, la esquizofrenia y la criminalidad en la edad adulta. Diversos efectos adversos ligados a hechos estresantes también han sido notados en los primates. El conjunto de estos estudios sugieren que el segundo trimestre del embarazo constituye un período crítico durante el cual los eventos estresantes pueden afectar el desarrollo del feto. Impedimentos metodológicos afectan actualmente la investigación sobre el estrés perinatal materno. Los estudios con animales ofrecen excelentes controles del medio perinatal y postnatal. Sin embargo los resultados de estos estudios dificilmente son aplicables al ser humano a causa de la presencia de numerosos factores de riesgo o de protección, ausentes en los animales. Además, en los estudios sobre los efectos de los eventos de vida durante el embarazo no se puede asignar estresores de forma aleatoria. En efecto, los rasgos de personalidad de la madre pueden ser transmitidos genéticamante, pero también en el curso del desarrollo. Entre otras, los niños de una madre con determinadas dificultades de personalidad están expuestos a más hechos perinatales de vida. Por otra parte, la mayoría de los estudios sobre el humano varían poco puesto que se necesita un amplio muestreo de mujeres embarazadas que garantice un número suficiente de sujetos que hayan vivido eventos de vida mayores. Para terminar, los estudios retrospectivos demuestran una relación entre el alto riesgo de esquizofrenia o de depresión y los hechos perinatales no incluyen la toma rápida de medidas sobre la gravedad objetiva o sobre la manifestación biológica del estres. Nosotros presentamos aquí una revista de la literatura que aborda el estres perinatal, seguida de una discusión sobre cómo la tempestad de hielo de 1998 podría se utilizada para aclarar sobre interrogantes tales los mecanismos por los cuales el estres perinatal ejerce una influencia en la salud mental de feto

Ethics-relevant values in adulthood: Longitudinal findings from the life and time study.

This study investigates a set of variables related to the relative valuing of narrow self-interest versus the concerns of a larger community. These values likely capture stable dispositions. Additionally, because ethics-relevant values are associated with ongoing cultural and moral socialization, they may develop over time as in May's theory of "mature" values. We administered eight value priority scales (Mature Values, Unmitigated Self-Interest, Materialism, Financial Aspirations, and Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Collectivism) to a national community sample (N = 864, 66% female, 71% White, mean age 36) on four occasions approximately one year apart (Time 4 N = 570). We examined the mean-level change as cross-sectional age differences and longitudinal change, and rank-order stability. Correlations with Big Five/Big Six personality traits are reported. As people grew older, they increased in Mature Values and Horizontal and Vertical Collectivism, and decreased in Unmitigated Self-Interest, Materialism, and Vertical Individualism. Rank-order stability of the values was nearly as high as personality traits over three years. Stability increased with age for some scales. The stability of values scores suggests that they capture dispositional aspects, but age differences and longitudinal trends are also consistent with the hypothesis of socialization toward more inclusive value priorities

Effect of acute copper sulfate exposure on olfactory responses to amino acids and pheromones in goldfish (Carassius auratus)

Exposure of olfactory epithelium to environmentally relevant concentrations of copper disrupts olfaction in fish. To examine the dynamics of recovery at both functional and morphological levels after acute copper exposure, unilateral exposure of goldfish olfactory epithelia to 100 μM CuSO4 (10 min) was followed by electro-olfactogram (EOG) recording and scanning electron microscopy. Sensitivity to amino acids (L-arginine and L-serine), generally considered food-related odorants, recovered most rapidly (three days), followed by that to catecholamines(3-O-methoxytyramine),bileacids(taurolithocholic acid) and the steroid pheromone, 17,20 -dihydroxy-4-pregnen- 3-one 20-sulfate, which took 28 days to reach full recovery. Sensitivity to the postovulatory pheromone prostaglandin F2R had not fully recovered even at 28 days. These changes in sensitivity were correlated with changes in the recovery of ciliated and microvillous receptor cell types. Microvillous cells appeared largely unaffected by CuSO4 treatment. Cilia in ciliated receptor neurones, however, appeared damaged one day post-treatment and were virtually absent after three days but had begun to recover after 14 days. Together, these results support the hypothesis that microvillous receptor neurones detect amino acids whereas ciliated receptor neurones were not functional and are responsible for detection of social stimuli (bile acidsandpheromones).Furthermore, differences in sensitivity to copper may be due to different transduction pathways in the different cell types

Expressing one’s feelings and listening to others increases emotional intelligence: a pilot study of Asian medical students

<p>Background: There has been considerable interest in Emotional Intelligence (EI) in undergraduate medical education, with respect to student selection and admissions, health and well-being and academic performance. EI is a significant component of the physician-patient relationship. The emotional well-being of the physician is, therefore, a significant component in patient care. The aim is to examine the measurement of TEIQue-SF in Asian medical students and to explore how the practice of listening to the feelings of others and expressing one’s own feelings influences an individual’s EI, set in the context of the emotional well-being of a medical practitioner.</p> <p>Methods: A group of 183 international undergraduate medical students attended a half-day workshop (WS) about mental-health and well-being. They completed a self-reported measure of EI on three occasions, pre- and post-workshop, and a 1-year follow-up.</p> <p>Result: The reliability of TEIQue-SF was high and the reliabilities of its four factors were acceptable. There were strong correlations between the TEIQue-SF and personality traits. A paired t-test indicated significant positive changes after the WS for all students (n=181, p= .014), male students (n=78, p= .015) and non-Japanese students (n=112, p= .007), but a repeated measures analysis showed that one year post-workshop there were significant positive changes for all students (n=55, p= .034), female students (n=31, p= .007), especially Japanese female students (n=13, p= .023). Moreover, 80% of the students reported that they were more attentive listeners, and 60% agreed that they were more confident in dealing with emotional issues, both within themselves and in others, as a result of the workshop.</p> <p>Conclusion: This study found the measurement of TEIQue-SF is appropriate and reliable to use for Asian medical students. The mental health workshop was helpful to develop medical students’ EI but showed different results for gender and nationality. The immediate impact on the emotional awareness of individuals was particularly significant for male students and the non-Japanese group. The impact over the long term was notable for the significant increase in EI for females and Japanese. Japanese female students were more conscious about emotionality. Emotion-driven communication exercises might strongly influence the development of students’ EI over a year.</p&gt

A human STAT3 gain-of-function variant confers T cell dysregulation without predominant Treg dysfunction in mice

Primary immune regulatory disorders (PIRD) represent a group of disorders characterized by immune dysregulation, presenting with a wide range of clinical disease, including autoimmunity, autoinflammation, or lymphoproliferation. Autosomal dominant germline gain-of-function (GOF) variants in STAT3 result in a PIRD with a broad clinical spectrum. Studies in patients have documented a decreased frequency of FOXP3+ Tregs and an increased frequency of Th17 cells in some patients with active disease. However, the mechanisms of disease pathogenesis in STAT3 GOF syndrome remain largely unknown, and treatment is challenging. We developed a knock-in mouse model harboring a de novo pathogenic human STAT3 variant (p.G421R) and found these mice developed T cell dysregulation, lymphoproliferation, and CD4+ Th1 cell skewing. Surprisingly, Treg numbers, phenotype, and function remained largely intact; however, mice had a selective deficiency in the generation of iTregs. In parallel, we performed single-cell RNA-Seq on T cells from STAT3 GOF patients. We demonstrate only minor changes in the Treg transcriptional signature and an expanded, effector CD8+ T cell population. Together, these findings suggest that Tregs are not the primary driver of disease and highlight the importance of preclinical models in the study of disease mechanisms in rare PIRD

Developing "personality" taxonomies: Metatheoretical and methodological rationales underlying selection approaches, methods of data generation and reduction principles

Taxonomic "personality" models are widely used in research and applied fields. This article applies the Transdisciplinary Philosophy-of-Science Paradigm for Research on Individuals (TPS-Paradigm) to scrutinise the three methodological steps that are required for developing comprehensive “personality” taxonomies: 1) the approaches used to select the phenomena and events to be studied, 2) the methods used to generate data about the selected phenomena and events and 3) the reduction principles used to extract the “most important” individual-specific variations for constructing “personality” taxonomies. Analyses of some currently popular taxonomies reveal frequent mismatches between the researchers’ explicit and implicit metatheories about “personality” and the abilities of previous methodologies to capture the particular kinds of phenomena toward which they are targeted. Serious deficiencies that preclude scientific quantifications are identified in standardised questionnaires, psychology’s established standard method of investigation. These mismatches and deficiencies derive from the lack of an explicit formulation and critical reflection on the philosophical and metatheoretical assumptions being made by scientists and from the established practice of radically matching the methodological tools to researchers’ preconceived ideas and to pre-existing statistical theories rather than to the particular phenomena and individuals under study. These findings raise serious doubts about the ability of previous taxonomies to appropriately and comprehensively reflect the phenomena towards which they are targeted and the structures of individual-specificity occurring in them. The article elaborates and illustrates with empirical examples methodological principles that allow researchers to appropriately meet the metatheoretical requirements and that are suitable for comprehensively exploring individuals’ “personality”

A conceptual model of an Arctic sea

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2012. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 117 (2012): C06010, doi:10.1029/2011JC007652.We propose a conceptual model for an Arctic sea that is driven by river runoff, atmospheric fluxes, sea ice melt/growth, and winds. The model domain is divided into two areas, the interior and boundary regions, that are coupled through Ekman and eddy fluxes of buoyancy. The model is applied to Hudson and James Bays (HJB, a large inland basin in northeastern Canada) for the period 1979–2007. Several yearlong records from instruments moored within HJB show that the model results are consistent with the real system. The model notably reproduces the seasonal migration of the halocline, the baroclinic boundary current, spatial variability of freshwater content, and the fall maximum in freshwater export. The simulations clarify the important differences in the freshwater balance of the western and eastern sides of HJB. The significant role played by the boundary current in the freshwater budget of the system, and its sensitivity to the wind-forcing, are also highlighted by the simulations and new data analyses. We conclude that the model proposed is useful for the interpretation of observed data from Arctic seas and model outputs from more complex coupled/climate models.We thank NSERC and the Canada Research Chairs program for funding. FS acknowledges support from NSF OCE–0927797 and ONR N00014-08-10490.2012-12-2

Oncogenic hijacking of a developmental transcription factor evokes vulnerability toward oxidative stress in Ewing sarcoma.

Ewing sarcoma (EwS) is an aggressive childhood cancer likely originating from mesenchymal stem cells or osteo-chondrogenic progenitors. It is characterized by fusion oncoproteins involving EWSR1 and variable members of the ETS-family of transcription factors (in 85% FLI1). EWSR1-FLI1 can induce target genes by using GGAA-microsatellites as enhancers.Here, we show that EWSR1-FLI1 hijacks the developmental transcription factor SOX6 - a physiological driver of proliferation of osteo-chondrogenic progenitors - by binding to an intronic GGAA-microsatellite, which promotes EwS growth in vitro and in vivo. Through integration of transcriptome-profiling, published drug-screening data, and functional in vitro and in vivo experiments including 3D and PDX models, we discover that constitutively high SOX6 expression promotes elevated levels of oxidative stress that create a therapeutic vulnerability toward the oxidative stress-inducing drug Elesclomol.Collectively, our results exemplify how aberrant activation of a developmental transcription factor by a dominant oncogene can promote malignancy, but provide opportunities for targeted therapy