The Contributions of Positive and Negative Affect to Emotional Well-Being

In this paper, the definitions of subjective well-being have been reviewed with a focus on its emotional core, which we consider to be the ratio of positive to negative affect over time. The reviewed evidence showed that negative emotions tend to be of longer duration than positive and that the NA system produces stronger emotional responses than the PA system. Also, a variety of experimental results show that negative stimuli make unique demands on cognitive resources (particularly perception and attention) compared to positive stimuli. The evidence that the negative affect system produces stronger affective output, per unit input, than the positive affect system, is a phenomenon known as negativity bias. I also went so far as to argue that negativity exceeds positivity by a factor of pi (3.14) and that efforts to speed adaptation to negative events may be more important to overall SWB then efforts to prolong responses to positive events (Larsen and Prizmic, 2008). The fact that negativity is stronger than positivity, combined with the notion of differential adaptation (people adapt faster to good events than to bad events), creates the conditions that drive the hedonic treadmill. However, most people are, to some degree, able to overcome the psychological forces of the hedonic treadmill and maintain at least a modicum of emotional well-being (Biswas-Diener, Vitterso, & Diener, 2005). It is likely that the ability called "emotional intelligence" refers in large part to the capacity to manage negative affect following unpleasant or stressful events (Larsen & Learner, 2006). Moreover, such an ability is likely to be made up of particular behaviors and strategies that each contributes specifically to the management of negative emotions (Larsen & Prizmic, 2004)

The Role of Nature in John Muir\u27s Conception of the Good Life

Aristotle says our best moral guidance comes from considering the lives of exemplary individuals. I explore John Muir, as an exemplar of environmental virtue, and consider the role of Nature in his conception of the good life. I argue his conception consists of a web of virtue including various goods, values, and virtues. I suggest three virtues are cardinal: attentiveness, gratitude and reverence. I explore how Muir cultivated these virtues in Nature. I argue Muir sought freedom from a popular conception of the good life, grounded in the gilded age values of money and materialism, and was sensitive to the harms these brought to both Nature and individuals. I show that Muir was particularly aware of the effects of what he called the vice of over-industry. I argue Muir was willing to suffer extreme loneliness in order to cultivate his conception of the good life in Nature. I show that he struggled, especially in his thirties, to find a balance between freedom and community. I show how in Nature Muir cultivated attentiveness to both his intuition and the observable world and I explore the relationship between them. I show that his rejection of anthropocentrism was based, in part, on his observations as a fully-engaged scientist. I argue attentiveness lead Muir to view wild animals as exemplars. He was especially drawn to the skill, beauty and true instinct of wild mountain sheep. I explore the relationship between gratitude and celebration and Muir\u27s exuberant expressions of ecstasy. I argue that while many of his friends remained stoic, his observation of the celebration of Stickeen, a small black dog, lead him to important insights into the commonality of all “our fellow mortals.” I make the case that Muir was most grateful for beauty as expressed in natural harmony. I distinguish gratitude from appreciation and thankfulness by suggesting gratitude implies reciprocity, as in a debt of gratitude, and that Muir\u27s environmental activism was motivated by wanting to reciprocate his gratitude for Nature. I also posit that through this activism Muir found increased meaning in his life; thus reflecting the nature of a truly reciprocal relationship. I argue Paul Woodruff\u27s framing of the term reverence offers an important environmental virtue because it positions processors as learning the limits and potentialities of their power and wisdom. Knowing one is neither all-powerful nor helpless is an essential environmental virtue because it steers clear of both apathy and hubris. I argue neither apathy nor hubris is an appropriate response to our current environmental crisis. I show how Muir was able to cultivate reverence through wild adventure. I conclude by speculating on how President Obama\u27s Deepwater Horizon Oil Disaster Commission might have been affected if John Muir were a member the commission

Could CuB be the site of redox linkage in cytochrome c oxidase?

This paper explores the proton pumping function of cytochrome c oxidase [ferrocytochrome-c:oxygen oxidoreductase (EC 1.9.3.1)] based upon redox linkage at the "high-potential" CU(B) center. A model is proposed that is derived from a redox-linked ligand exchange mechanism previously described for the Cu(A) site. Qualitative analysis of this mechanism indicates that such a mechanism is feasible. However, the relatively short distance between Cu(B) and cytochrome a3 implies that the uncoupling electron transfers are quite facile. In addition, the position of the Cu(B) center with respect to the inner mitochondrial membrane argues against redox linkage at the Cu(B) site

A Method for Photoinitating Protein Folding in a Nondenaturing Environment

The early kinetic events of protein folding are an important part of the folding pathway, yet our understanding towards the process is limited. Information from the study of these early events can allow us to distinguish between the various models that have been proposed to describe the folding of a protein in real time. Unlike “typical” chemical kinetics with well-defined initial and final states, the initial state of a denatured protein is relatively ill-defined. This uncertainty introduces ambiguity in the interpretation of the experimental data on the early events in protein folding. Toward developing a unified theory of protein folding, it is necessary to begin the observation of the refolding process from a well-defined initial state, trigger folding as rapidly as possible, and to follow the protein in real time as it samples its conformational space over its highly complex free-energy landscape

Extending reducer/augmenter theory into the emotion domain: The role of affect in regulating stimulation level

According to reducer/augmenter theory, augmenters are assumed to react to sensory stimuli with enhanced responsiveness, whereas reducers respond to the same stimuli with dampened responsiveness. Due to their generally understimulated condition, reducers are motivated to seek out stronger or more intense forms of sensory stimulation. When emotion is viewed as a source of stimulation, it becomes plausible to hypothesize that reducers and augmenters may differentially utilize their emotions to modulate stimulation level. Results from Study 1 show that, after a period of boredom, reducers chose more frequently than augmenters to participate in an arousing, emotion-induction experiment, even though they believed the experience would involve the induction of negative affect. Reducers also found the initial boredom-induction task to be significantly more boring and less interesting than the augmenters. Study 2 found that reducers were more likely than augmenters to engage in activities that have a higher probability of evoking emotion in their natural, ongoing lives. Reducers also exhibited episodes of stronger affect and more frequently novelty- and sensation-seeking in their ongoing natural lives than augmenters. Implications of these results for reducer/augmenter theory and for understanding the role of emotion in arousal regulation are discussed, and directions for future research are proposed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/29640/1/0000729.pd

Seasonal movements and habitat use of African buffalo in Ruaha National Park, Tanzania.

BACKGROUND:Assessing wildlife movements and habitat use is important for species conservation and management and can be informative for understanding population dynamics. The African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) population of Ruaha National Park, Tanzania has been declining, and little was known about the movement, habitat selection, and space use of the population, which is important for understanding possible reasons behind the decline. A total of 12 African buffalo cows from four different herds were collared with satellite transmitters. Movements were assessed over 2 years from 11 animals. RESULTS:The space use of the individual collared buffaloes as an approximation of the 95% home range size estimated using Brownian bridge models, ranged from 73 to 601 km2. The estimated home ranges were larger in the wet season than in the dry season. With the exception of one buffalo all collared animals completed a wet season migration of varying distances. A consistent pattern of seasonal movement was observed with one herd, whereas the other herds did not behave the same way in the two wet seasons that they were tracked. Herd splitting and herd switching occurred on multiple occasions. Buffaloes strongly associated with habitats near the Great Ruaha River in the dry season and had little association to permanent water sources in the wet season. Daily movements averaged 4.6 km (standard deviation, SD = 2.6 km), with the longest distances traveled during November (mean 6.9 km, SD = 3.6 km) at the end of the dry season and beginning of the wet season. The shortest daily distances traveled occurred in the wet season in April-June (mean 3.6 km, SD = 1.6-1.8 km). CONCLUSION:The Great Ruaha River has experienced significant drying in the last decades due to water diversions upstream, which likely has reduced the suitable range for buffaloes. The loss of dry season habitat due to water scarcity has likely contributed to the population decline of the Ruaha buffaloes