The Mediated Construction of Reality: Matching Berger & Luckmann with Elias to Understand How Facebook and Google Construct Our Social Reality

Nick Couldry, Andreas Hepp: The Mediated Construction of Reality: Society, Culture, Mediatization. Cambridge / Malden, MA: Polity Press 2017. 978074568130

Understanding Media Dynamics

Mass media and social media afford a communicative environment providing a horizon of orientation for citizens about conflicts relating to religion, and provide social actors with the tools to engage in such conflicts. Media may insert various dynamics into conflicts and may occasionally become actors themselves in contestations over religious issues. This chapter applies a typology that distinguishes among three different media dynamics: (1) media’s ability to amplify the communication and the ramifications of the reported events, (2) how the world is represented, framed, in the media, and the ways in which the media bestow the communication of events with a certain narrative and dramaturgy and work as arenas for the performative agency of various involved actors, and (3) the various ways in which media as social and communicative environments come to co-structure communication and actions. The terror attack on the French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo is used as an illustrative example

Do foreign investors have an edge? : a study of Norwegian equity mutual funds

This paper examines the performance and investor behavior of Norwegian equity mutual funds in the time periods 1990-2012 and 2006-2012, respectively. The behavioral part try to reveal differences between local (Norwegian) and foreign (non-Norwegian) investors in light of home bias. We find that 94 per cent of the mutual funds are not expected to generate a significant positive alpha, excluding transaction costs. After deducting returns from capital assets, illustrations find that foreigners have more volatile cash flows than locals. We test if these differences are due to irrational biases, different risk profiles or information advantages. We provide significant evidence that three month average historic returns can predict larger changes in foreign capital assets than in local, which indicates that foreigners chase performance more than locals. Furthermore, we find that changes in foreign capital assets predict three- and six month average return better than locals, hence we can exclude the irrational bias story. Finally, after controlling for risk, we find significant positive alpha for foreigners and no significant results for locals, which exclude the different risk profile story. Overall, this suggests that foreign investors generate positive return because they have an information advantage

Molecular switches in signaling networks as a mechanism of action for oncogenic mutations in proximity of tyrosine residues

We developed a mass spectrometry-based proteomics strategy to study oncogenic phosphotyrosine signaling networks in tissues. We outlined epidermal growth factor-dependent phosphotyrosine signaling in lung tissue and discovered that cancer mutations in vicinity of phosphotyrosine sites can induce molecular switches in recruited protein complexes, which ultimately alter the signaling outcome of the network activation

Danske seniorers (65+) motiver og barrierer for fysisk aktivitet

The proportion of older adults is increasing in Denmark. At the same time physical activity is becoming an increasingly popular arena to prevent illness, promote health and increase life quality. This case study examined older adults’ (65-75 y) motives and barriers for participation in organised physical activity. Using a single embedded case study, we collected data through semi structured interviews and observation. The theoretical framework is Ryan & Deci’s Self-Determination Theory (SDT). Results of this study indicate that informants had several intrinsic and extrinsic motives. Among the extrinsic motives were better health, absence of illness, a good retirement and complying with social norms. A number of integrated and structural motives also exist: positive experience with sports, appropriate challenges, social interaction, diverse sports activities and freedom of choice. The older adults described barriers such as: difficult to self-initiate participation in sports, health related issues and lacking experiences with sports. Furthermore, the study discusses behaviour change triggers to stimulate healthy behaviour in old age using a revised FBM-model. In addition, organised physical activity that promotes satisfaction of the psychological needs is essential for the adherence. Based on the results and discussion, implications for practice are provided through recommendations on physical activity for older adults, based on organisation, activities and recruitment. Results of this study indicate that informants had several intrinsic and extrinsic motives. Among the extrinsic motives were better health, absence of illness, a good retirement and complying with social norms. A number of integrated and structural motives also exist positive experience with sports, appropriate challenges, social interaction, diverse sports activities and freedom of choice. The older adults described barriers such as: difficult to self-initiate participation in sports, health related issues and lacking experiences with sports. Furthermore, the study discusses behaviour change triggers to stimulate healthy behaviour in old age using a revised FBM-model. In addition, organised physical activity that promotes satisfaction of the psychological needs is essential for the adherence. Based on the results and discussion, implications for practice are provided through recommendations on physical activity for older adults, based on organisation, activities and recruitment

Regular endurance training reduces the exercise induced HIF-1α and HIF-2α mRNA expression in human skeletal muscle in normoxic conditions

Regular exercise induces a variety of adaptive responses that enhance the oxidative and metabolic capacity of human skeletal muscle. Although the physiological adjustments of regular exercise have been known for decades, the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. The hypoxia inducible factors 1 and 2 (HIFs) are clearly related heterodimeric transcription factors that consist of an oxygen-depended α-subunit and a constitutive β-subunit. With hypoxic exposure, HIF-1α and HIF-2α protein are stabilized. Upon heterodimerization, HIFs induce the transcription of a variety of genes including erythropoietin (EPO), transferrin and its receptor, as well as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptor. Considering that several of these genes are also induced with exercise, we tested the hypothesis that the mRNA level of HIF-1α and HIF-2α subunits increases with a single exercise bout, and that this response is blunted with training. We obtained muscle biopsies from a trained (5days/week during 4weeks) and untrained leg from the same human subject before, immediately after, and during the recovery from a 3h two-legged knee extensor exercise bout, where the two legs exercised at the same absolute workload. In the untrained leg, the exercise bout induced an increase (P<0.05) in HIF-1α fold and HIF-2α fold mRNA at 6h of recovery. In contrast, HIF-1α and HIF-2α mRNA levels were not altered at any time point in the trained leg. Obviously, HIF-1α and HIF-2α mRNA levels are transiently increased in untrained human skeletal muscle in response to an acute exercise bout, but this response is blunted after exercise training. We propose that HIFs expression is upregulated with exercise and that it may be an important transcription factor that regulates adaptive gene responses to exercis

Resistance exercise training increases skeletal muscle mitochondrial respiration in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with skeletal muscle mitochondrial dysfunction. Resistance exercise training (RT) is a training modality with a relatively small pulmonary demand that has been suggested to increase skeletal muscle oxidative enzyme activity in COPD. Whether a shift into a more oxidative profile following RT also translates into increased mitochondrial respiratory capacity in COPD is yet to be established. This study investigated the effects of 13 weeks of RT on m. vastus lateralis mitochondrial capacity in 11 per sons with moderate COPD [45% females, age: 69 ± 4 years (mean ± SD), predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1): 56 ± 7%] and 12 healthy controls (75% females, age: 66 ± 5 years, predicted FEV1: 110 ± 16%). RT was supervised and carried out two times per week. Leg exercises included leg press, knee extension, and knee flexion and were performed unilaterally with one leg conducting high-load training (10 repetitions maximum, 10RM) and the other leg conducting low-load training (30 repetitions maximum, 30RM). One-legged muscle mass, maximal muscle strength, and endurance performance were determined prior to and after the RT period, together with mitochondrial respiratory capacity using high-resolution respirometry and citrate synthase (CS) activity (a marker for mitochondrial volume density). Transcriptome analysis of genes associated with mitochondrial function was performed. Resistance exercise training led to similar improvements in one-legged muscle mass, muscle strength, and endurance performance in COPD and healthy individuals. In COPD, mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation capacity and oxidative phosphorylation increased following RT (+13 ± 22%, P = 0.033 and +9 ± 23%, P = 0.035, respectively). Marked increases were also seen in COPD for mitochondrial volume density (CS activity, +39 ± 35%, P = 0.001), which increased more than mitochondrial respiration, leading to lowered intrinsic mitochondrial function (respiration/CS activity) for complex-1- supported respiration ( 12 ± 43%, P = 0.033), oxidative phosphorylation ( 10 ± 42%, P = 0.037), and electron transfer system capacity ( 6 ± 52%, P = 0.027). No differences were observed between 10RM and 30RM RT, nor were there any adaptations in mitochondrial function following RT in healthy controls. RT led to differential expression of numerous genes related to mitochondrial function in both COPD and healthy controls, with no difference being observed between groups. Thirteen weeks of RT resulted in augmented skeletal muscle mitochondrial respiratory capacity in COPD, accompanied by alterations in the transcriptome and driven by an increase in mitochondrial quantity rather than improved mitochondrial quality.publishedVersio

Molecular Template for a Voltage Sensor in a Novel K+ Channel. I. Identification and Functional Characterization of KvLm, a Voltage-gated K+ Channel from Listeria monocytogenes

The fundamental principles underlying voltage sensing, a hallmark feature of electrically excitable cells, are still enigmatic and the subject of intense scrutiny and controversy. Here we show that a novel prokaryotic voltage-gated K+ (Kv) channel from Listeria monocytogenes (KvLm) embodies a rudimentary, yet robust, sensor sufficient to endow it with voltage-dependent features comparable to those of eukaryotic Kv channels. The most conspicuous feature of the KvLm sequence is the nature of the sensor components: the motif is recognizable; it appears, however, to contain only three out of eight charged residues known to be conserved in eukaryotic Kv channels and accepted to be deterministic for folding and sensing. Despite the atypical sensor sequence, flux assays of KvLm reconstituted in liposomes disclosed a channel pore that is highly selective for K+ and is blocked by conventional Kv channel blockers. Single-channel currents recorded in symmetric K+ solutions from patches of enlarged Escherichia coli (spheroplasts) expressing KvLm showed that channel open probability sharply increases with depolarization, a hallmark feature of Kv channels. The identification of a voltage sensor module in KvLm with a voltage dependence comparable to that of other eukaryotic Kv channels yet encoded by a sequence that departs significantly from the consensus sequence of a eukaryotic voltage sensor establishes a molecular blueprint of a minimal sequence for a voltage sensor