Neural basis of shame and guilt experience in women with borderline personality disorder.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by instability of affect, emotion dysregulation, and interpersonal dysfunction. Especially shame and guilt, so-called self-conscious emotions, are of central clinical relevance to BPD. However, only few experimental studies have focused on shame or guilt in BPD and none investigated their neurobiological underpinnings. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we took a scenario-based approach to experimentally induce feelings of shame, guilt, and disgust with neutral scenarios as control condition. We included 19 women with BPD (age 26.4 ± 5.8 years; DSM-IV diagnosed; medicated) and 22 healthy female control subjects (age 26.4 ± 4.6 years; matched for age and verbal IQ). Compared to controls, women with BPD reported more intense feelings when being confronted with affective scenarios, especially higher levels of shame, guilt, and fear. We found increased amygdala reactivity in BPD compared to controls for shame and guilt, but not for disgust scenarios (p = 0.05 FWE corrected at the cluster level; p < 0.0001 cluster defining threshold). Exploratory analyses showed that this was caused by a diminished habituation in women with BPD relative to control participants. This effect was specific to guilt and shame scenarios as both groups showed amygdala habituation to disgust scenarios. Our work suggests that heightened shame and guilt experience in BPD is not related to increased amygdala activity per se, but rather to decreased habituation to self-conscious emotions. This provides an explanation for the inconsistencies in previous imaging work on amygdala involvement in BPD as well as the typically slow progress in the psychotherapy of dysfunctional self-conscious emotions in this patient group

Cloud Ice Properties: In Situ Measurement Challenges

Baumgardner D., S.J. Abel, D. Axisa, R. Cotton, J. Crosier, P. Field, C. Gurganus, A. Heymsfield, A. Korolev, M. Krämer, P. Lawson, G. McFarquhar, Z. Ulanowski, and J. Um, 'Cloud ice properties: in situ measurement challenges', Meteorological Monographs, Vol. 58, pp. 9.1–9.23, April 2017. The version of record is available online at doi: 10.1175/AMSMONOGRAPHS-D-16-0011.1.1 © 2017 American Meteorological Society. For information regarding reuse of this content and general copyright information, consult the AMS Copyright Policy (www.ametsoc.org/PUBSReuseLicenses).Understanding the formation and evolution of ice in clouds requires detailed information on the size, shape, mass and optical properties of individual cloud hydrometeors and their bulk properties over a broad range of atmospheric conditions. Since the 1960s, instrumentation and research aircraft have evolved providing increasingly more accurate and larger quantities of data about cloud particle properties. In this chapter we review the current status of electrical powered, in situ measurement systems with respect to their strengths and weaknesses and document their limitations and uncertainties. There remain many outstanding challenges. These are summarized and accompanied by recommendations for moving forward. through new developments that fill the remaining information gaps. Closing these gaps will remove the obstacles that continue to hinder our understanding of cloud processes in general and the evolution of ice in particular.Peer reviewe

Cirrus clouds

Andrew J. Heymsfield, Martina Kramer, Anna Luebke, Phil Brown, Daniel J. Cziczo, Charmaine Franklin, Ulrike Lohmann, Greg McFarquhar, Zbigniew Ulanowski and Kristof Van Trich, American Meteorological Society , January 2017, this article has been published in final form at DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/AMSMONOGRAPHS-D-16-0010.1 Published by AMS Publications © 2017 American Meteorological Society. For information regarding reuse of this content and general copyright information, consult the AMS Copyright Policy (http://www.ametsoc.org/PUBSCopyrightPolicy).The goal of this article is to synthesize information about what is now known about one of the three main types of clouds, cirrus, and to identify areas where more knowledge is needed. Cirrus clouds, composed of ice particles, form primarily in the upper troposphere, where temperatures are generally below -30°C. Satellite observations show that the maximum-occurrence frequency of cirrus is near the tropics, with a large latitudinal movement seasonally. In-situ measurements obtained over a wide range of cloud types, formation mechanisms, temperatures, and geographical locations indicate that the ice water content and particle size generally decrease with decreasing temperature, whereas the ice particle concentration is nearly constant or increase slightly with decreasing temperature. High ice concentrations, sometimes observed in strong updrafts , results from homogeneous nucleation. The satellite-based and in-situ measurements indicate that cirrus ice crystals typically depart from the simple, idealized geometry for smooth hexagonal shapes, indicating complexity and/or surface roughness. Their shapes significantly impact cirrus radiative properties and feedbacks to climate. Cirrus clouds, one of the most uncertain components of general circulation models (GCM), pose one of the greatest challenges in predicting the rate and geographical pattern of climate change. Improved measurements of the properties and size distributions and surface structure of small ice crystals — about 20 μm, and identifying the dominant ice nucleation process — heterogeneous versus homogeneous ice nucleation, under different cloud dynamical forcings, will lead to a better representation of their properties in GCM and in modeling their current and future effects on climate.Peer reviewe

Dopamine transporter (DAT1) and dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) genotypes differentially impact on electrophysiological correlates of error processing

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Quasi-spherical ice in convective clouds

Homogeneous freezing of supercooled droplets occurs in convective systems in low and midlatitudes. This droplet-freezing process leads to the formation of a large amount of small ice particles, so-called frozen droplets, that are transported to the upper parts of anvil outflows, where they can influence the cloud radiative properties. However, the detailed microphysics and, thus, the scattering properties of these small ice particles are highly uncertain. Here, the link between the microphysical and optical properties of frozen droplets is investigated in cloud chamber experiments, where the frozen droplets were formed, grown, and sublimated under controlled conditions. It was found that frozen droplets developed a high degree of small-scale complexity after their initial formation and subsequent growth. During sublimation, the small-scale complexity disappeared, releasing a smooth and near-spherical ice particle. Angular light scattering and depolarization measurements confirmed that these sublimating frozen droplets scattered light similar to spherical particles: that is, they had angular light-scattering properties similar to water droplets. The knowledge gained from this laboratory study was applied to two case studies of aircraft measurements in midlatitude and tropical convective systems. The in situ aircraft measurements confirmed that the microphysics of frozen droplets is dependent on the humidity conditions they are exposed to (growth or sublimation). The existence of optically spherical frozen droplets can be important for the radiative properties of detraining convective outflows.Peer reviewe

Processing of Ice Cloud In-Situ Data Collected by Bulk Water, Scattering, and Imaging Probes: Fundamentals, Uncertainties and Efforts towards Consistency

In-situ observations of cloud properties made by airborne probes play a critical role in ice cloud research through their role in process studies, parameterization development, and evaluation of simulations and remote sensing retrievals. To determine how cloud properties vary with environmental conditions, in-situ data collected during different field projects processed by different groups must be used. However, due to the diverse algorithms and codes that are used to process measurements, it can be challenging to compare the results. Therefore it is vital to understand both the limitations of specific probes and uncertainties introduced by processing algorithms. Since there is currently no universally accepted framework regarding how in-situ measurements should be processed, there is a need for a general reference that describes the most commonly applied algorithms along with their strengths and weaknesses. Methods used to process data from bulk water probes, single particle light scattering spectrometers and cloud imaging probes are reviewed herein, with emphasis on measurements of the ice phase. Particular attention is paid to how uncertainties, caveats and assumptions in processing algorithms affect derived products since there is currently no consensus on the optimal way of analyzing data. Recommendations for improving the analysis and interpretation of in-situ data include the following: establishment of a common reference library of individual processing algorithms; better documentation of assumptions used in these algorithms; development and maintenance of sustainable community software for processing in-situ observations; and more studies that compare different algorithms with the same benchmark data sets

Regulating interpersonal stress: the link between heart-rate variability, physical exercise and social perspective taking under stress.

Social interactions can be stressful, especially if they involve provocation or ambiguity. At the same time, such interactions necessitate social cognition. The question thus arises how stress affects social cognition and how personality attributes modulate this effect. The aim of the current study was to investigate the link between emotional reactivity, physical exercise, and social cognition under stress. As a measure of social cognition, we used spontaneous perspective taking, i.e., the degree to which participants represented the mental state of another agent. Studying young female participants, we investigated how physiological regulation, measured through resting heart-rate variability, is related to spontaneous social perspective taking under stress, and to predicted anger in an ambiguous social scenario. When controlling for resting heart rate, vagally mediated heart-rate variability was negatively correlated with the effect of stress on perspective taking, indicating that good physiological regulation supports social cognition under stress. Further, participants who reported to exercise at least once a week showed higher perspective taking under stress than less active participants. Finally, we found tentative evidence for participants who exercised regularly to show reduced predicted anger in response to an ambiguous provocation. Our findings suggest that good physiological regulation and regular physical exercise support social cognition under stress

Everolimus treatment downregulates renocortical cyclooxygenase-2 expression in the rat kidney

1. Based on recent evidence that renal cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) gene expression is suppressed by immunosuppressive agents such as cyclosporin A (CsA), tacrolimus and dexamethasone, this study aimed to characterize the effect of the new immunosuppressant everolimus on COX-2 expression in the rat kidney. 2. Oral application of everolimus (3 mg kg(−1) day(−1)) to male Sprague–Dawley rats (175–200 g; n=8) for 7 days lowered COX-2 expression in the rat renal cortex and outer medulla, while COX-2 expression in the inner medulla as well as COX-1 expression remained unaltered. Furthermore, everolimus decreased renocortical prostaglandin (PG) E(2) concentration. 3. Everolimus also attenuated the stimulation of renocortical COX-2 expression by furosemide (12 mg day(−1) for 7 days; s.c. via osmotic minipumps), by low salt intake (0.02% NaCl, wt wt(−1)) or by a combination of low salt intake with the AT(1)-receptor antagonist valsartan (30 mg kg(−1) day(−1); oral). In line with these findings, everolimus decreased renocortical PGE(2) concentration during these treatment maneuvers. 4. Everolimus moderately increased natriuresis and diuresis, while the urinary excretion of PGE(2), 6-keto PGF(1α) and thromboxane B(2) was decreased. 5. These findings suggest that everolimus inhibits basal and also stimulated expression of renocortical COX-2 and of tissue prostanoid formation. Since inhibition of renal prostanoid formation by everolimus was associated by an increased rather than decreased natriuresis and diuresis, it appears as if everolimus also inhibits tubular salt and water resorption