Romantic Nostalgia: Examining the Motivational and Relational Outcomes

Romantic nostalgia, or the sentimental longing and wistful affection towards a romantic partner (Evans et al., in press), is a type of nostalgia pertaining to relationships that has not been addressed widely in the current literature. The goal of this research is to investigate whether romantic nostalgia buffers against conflict and promotes motivational benefits to the relationship. I extend the work on the restorative nature of nostalgia to close relationships and explore cognitive, motivational, and behavioral relationship maintenance strategies. Study 1 sampled university students currently in romantic relationships to examine the association between romantic nostalgia proneness and compassionate goals. Romantic nostalgia proneness was significantly correlated and predicted compassionate goals, moderated by avoidant attachment, and mediated by relationship functions. In Study 2, I experimentally manipulated both conflict and romantic nostalgia to examine whether there was an interaction effect on compassionate goals. Both manipulations were successful; however, there was no support for main or interaction effects between romantic nostalgia and conflict on compassionate goals. In Study 3, I induced conflict for all participants first, followed by the same romantic nostalgia manipulation from Study 2, and assessed mediating and downstream relationship maintenance effects (support giving, derogation of alternatives, sacrifice). There were no significant group differences on any variables of interest, except for the derogation of alternatives: nostalgic individuals devalued attractive alternative partners following a conflict, relative to non-nostalgic individuals. Overall, the three studies offered insight into the effect of romantic nostalgia on relationship maintenance strategies, with relevant applications for relationship science

PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF READING: THE ROLE OF NOSTALGIA IN RE-READING FAVORITE BOOKS

There are many positive outcomes from feeling nostalgic, including reductions in loneliness and greater meaning and social connectedness. My primary research goal was to investigate whether I could trigger feelings of nostalgia from re-reading an old favorite book, and whether this elicited nostalgia would increase feelings of connectedness and meaning in life and reduce loneliness. I designed a two-study package (one correlational study and one experiment) to assess re-reading novels. Trait nostalgia was positively associated with enjoyment of re-reading books (Study 1). Re-reading a favorite novel, relative to reading a new novel or a set of newspaper articles, elicited nostalgia. Further, nostalgia mediated the relation between reading condition on loneliness, meaning in life, and social connectedness (Study 2). Future work should focus on evaluating the nostalgic benefits of other forms of storytelling

Keynote Address: Bringing America up to Speed: Delivering Our Broadband Future without Sacrificing Local Identity

Transcription of Keynote Address for Bringing America up to Speed: Delivering on Our Broadband Future Without Sacrificing Local Identity, a symposium held on March 28, 2006 at The Catholic University of America\u27s Columbus School of Law. Mr. Kneuer\u27s presentation may be found at http://commlaw.cua.edu/symposia/2006. John M.R. Kneuer serves as the Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration ( NTIA )

Subcellular localization and distribution of the reduced folate carrier in normal rat tissues

The reduced folate carrier (Rfc1; Slc19a1) mediated transport of reduced folates and antifolate drugs such as methotrexate (MTX) play an essential role in physiological folate homeostasis and MTX cancer chemotherapy. As no systematic reports are as yet available correlating Rfc1 gene expression and protein levels in all tissues crucial for folate and antifolate uptake, storage or elimination, we investigated gene and protein expression of rat Rfc1 (rRfc1) in selected tissues. This included the generation of a specific anti-rRfc1 antibody. Rabbits were immunised with isolated rRfc1 peptides producing specific anti-rRfc1 antiserum targeted to the intracellular C-terminus of the carrier. Using RT-PCR analysis, high rRfc1 transcript levels were detected in colon, kidney, brain, thymus, and spleen. Moderate rRfc1 gene expression was observed in small intestine, liver, bone marrow, lung, and testes whereas transcript levels were negligible in heart, skeletal muscle or leukocytes. Immunohistochemical analyses revealed strong carrier expression in the apical membrane of tunica mucosa epithelial cells of small intestine and colon, in the brush-border membrane of choroid plexus epithelial cells or in endothelial cells of small vessels in brain and heart. Additionally, high rRfc1 protein levels were localized in the basolateral membrane of renal tubular epithelial cells, in the plasma membrane of periportal hepatocytes, and sertoli cells of the testes. Taken together, our results demonstrated that rRfc1 is expressed almost ubiquitously but to very different levels. The predominant tissue distribution supports the essential role of Rfc1 in physiological folate homeostasis. Moreover, our results may contribute to understand antifolate pharmacokinetics and selected organ toxicity associated with MTX chemotherapy

In Pursuit of Important Goals: Nostalgia Fosters Heroic Perceptions via Social Connectedness

Research on the theoretical order causally linking heroism to social connectedness and inspiration does not exist to our knowledge (Allison & Green, 2020). We propose that nostalgia is a source of heroism because of the social nature of nostalgic memories. We designed two studies, one correlational and one experimental, to test how nostalgia relates to pursuit of an important goal, through increasing social connectedness, heroic perceptions, and inspiration. Online participants completed an ordinary writing task (Study 1) or were randomly assigned to either a nostalgic or ordinary writing task (Study 2), followed by measures of social connectedness, heroic perceptions, inspiration, and goal pursuit. Nostalgia significantly predicted goal pursuit via social connectedness, heroic perceptions, and inspiration. Theoretical, empirical, and practical implications for future work are discussed. We expanded upon the prosocial function of nostalgia by incorporating heroism into our full sequence. Therefore, we strengthened support for the motivational consequences of nostalgia that can be applied to goal setting and goal pursuit behaviors

The ongoing transformation of the digital public sphere: basic considerations on a moving target

The recent decades more than anything else have revealed the ambivalence not only of the articulated expectations about the digital public sphere but also of the "real" development itself. This thematic issue of Media and Communication highlights some of the criticalities and specificities of the evolution of the public sphere during this period where digital communication ecosystems are becoming increasingly central. The different articles offer a polyphonic perspective and thus contribute significantly to the debate on the transformations of the public sphere, which -in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic- dramatically affect the very essence of our democracy

The Ongoing Transformation of the Digital Public Sphere: Basic Considerations on a Moving Target

The recent decades more than anything else have revealed the ambivalence not only of the articulated expectations about the digital public sphere but also of the \u2018real\u2019 development itself. This thematic issue of Media and Communication highlights some of the criticalities and specificities of the evolution of the public sphere during this period where digital communication ecosystems are becoming increasingly central. The different articles offer a polyphonic perspective and thus contribute significantly to the debate on the transformations of the public sphere, which\u2014in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic\u2014dramatically affect the very essence of our democracy

Limitations of democratic rights during the Covid-19 pandemic - exploring the citizens’ perception and discussions on dangers to democracy in Germany

The governments' mitigation measures to fight the COVID-19 pandemic are unprecedented in our post-war history. For overcoming this crisis, citizens were expected to act in compliance with these measures in order to control the spread of the virus and keep public health systems functional. This call for protecting the public health at the same time confronted citizens with several and severe limitations of their democratic freedoms and rights: confinement, restriction on freedoms of movement, religion, specific provisions for public protest and finally also limitations to the right of education by school closures. This paper analyzes how citizens perceive the threat the COVID-19 pandemic and especially the mitigation measures posed for democracy. We assume that pandemic waves and pandemic fatigue have an impact on the perception of threat. To see the overall societal picture, we exploit a large-scale archive of online discourse on Twitter out of which we extract democracy-related discourse with the same temporal and geospatial coverage for our investigation. From that data source, we apply computational methods to extract time series data reflecting aggregated opinions and their evolution over time concerned with the correlation of attitudes towards democracy. We them move deeper using a longitudinal panel survey we conducted in November/December 2020, March/April 2021, and July/August 2021. to have a view of the relationship between citizens’ socio-economic status and basic political attitudes. Our multi-method analysis bases on the German case and covers the period from December 2020 to August 2021

Mobile politische Beteiligung - erneut nur die üblichen Verdächtigen? Eine empirische Analyse der Nutzung der Tübinger BürgerApp

Digitale Bürgerbeteiligungsprozesse sind inzwischen als etabliert anzusehen. Es gibt allerdings so gut wie keine Studien, die mobile Beteiligungskonzepte untersuchen. Die vorliegende Studie widmet sich diesem neuen Phänomen digitaler Partizipation unter dem Aspekt der sozialen Verzerrung. Können Städte durch die Nutzung smarter Beteiligungsinstrumente auch jene Gruppen der Stadtgesellschaft mobilisieren, die sich traditionell nicht oder kaum politisch engagieren? Gelingt es also durch die Nutzung von neueren Formen der digitalen Beteiligung andere als die "üblichen Verdächtigen" zu mobilisieren? Die Analyse zweier Beteiligungsprozesse mittels der "BürgerApp" in der Stadt Tübingen in den Jahren 2019 und 2020 lässt vermuten, dass traditionell wenig partizipationsfreudige Bürgerinnen und Bürger auch durch Apps nicht signifikant stärker mobilisiert werden. Im Gegenteil, wir finden unter den Teilnehmenden an den "Smartphone-Konsultationsprozessen" vor allem männliche Bürger mittleren Alters mit einer starken Technikneugierde

The ABCG2 efflux transporter from rabbit placenta: Cloning and functional characterization

AbstractIn human placenta, the ATP-binding cassette efflux transporter ABCG2 is highly expressed in syncytiotrophoblast cells and mediates cellular excretion of various drugs and toxins. Hence, physiological ABCG2 activity substantially contributes to the fetoprotective placenta barrier function during gestation. Developmental toxicity studies are often performed in rabbit. However, despite its toxicological relevance, there is no data so far on functional ABCG2 expression in this species. Therefore, we cloned ABCG2 from placenta tissues of chinchilla rabbit. Sequencing showed 84–86% amino acid sequence identity to the orthologues from man, rat and mouse. We transduced the rabbit ABCG2 clone (rbABCG2) in MDCKII cells and stable rbABCG2 gene and protein expression was shown by RT-PCR and Western blot analysis. The rbABCG2 efflux activity was demonstrated with the Hoechst H33342 assay using the specific ABCG2 inhibitor Ko143. We further tested the effect of established human ABCG2 (hABCG2) drug substrates including the antibiotic danofloxacin or the histamine H2-receptor antagonist cimetidine on H33342 accumulation in MDCKII-rbABCG2 or -hABCG2 cells. Human therapeutic plasma concentrations of all tested drugs caused a comparable competitive inhibition of H33342 excretion in both ABCG2 clones. Altogether, we first showed functional expression of the ABCG2 efflux transporter in rabbit placenta. Moreover, our data suggest a similar drug substrate spectrum of the rabbit and the human ABCG2 efflux transporter