Handedness and social anxiety:using Bryden's research as a catalyst to explore the influence of familial sinistrality and degree of handedness

Phil Bryden's work has impacted on many areas of laterality, including degree and measurement of hand preference, as well as influences of familial sinistrality (FS). For example, Bryden[(1977). Measuring handedness with questionnaires. Neuropsychologia, 15, 617–624] is a well-cited and influential paper that remains relevant to this day. Inspired by this we extended our analysis of the relationship between handedness and anxiety in a number of ways. We used familial handedness and strength of handedness to examine their potential influences on anxiety, and extended our research by exploring their relationship to social anxiety, using the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN). Inconsistent left-handers (ILH) were found to be more socially anxious. In all categories of SPIN except avoidance, ILH were significantly more anxious than consistent right- and left-handers. There were FS differences between ILH with a first degree left-handed relative (FS+) compared to ILH with no first degree left-handed relative (FS−) on all categories of anxiety scores. Within FS+ participants, ILH had significantly higher anxiety scores, compared with consistent handers across all categories. This suggests that ILH's social anxiety may be influenced by a close left-handed relative. Inspired by examining Bryden's work for this special issue, we will continue to add both strength of preference and familial handedness to our work

Evolutionary relationships in Panicoid grasses based on plastome phylogenomics (Panicoideae; Poaceae)

Background: Panicoideae are the second largest subfamily in Poaceae (grass family), with 212 genera and approximately 3316 species. Previous studies have begun to reveal relationships within the subfamily, but largely lack resolution and/or robust support for certain tribal and subtribal groups. This study aims to resolve these relationships, as well as characterize a putative mitochondrial insert in one linage. Results: 35 newly sequenced Panicoideae plastomes were combined in a phylogenomic study with 37 other species: 15 Panicoideae and 22 from outgroups. A robust Panicoideae topology largely congruent with previous studies was obtained, but with some incongruences with previously reported subtribal relationships. A mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to plastid DNA (ptDNA) transfer was discovered in the Paspalum lineage. Conclusions: The phylogenomic analysis returned a topology that largely supports previous studies. Five previously recognized subtribes appear on the topology to be non-monophyletic. Additionally, evidence for mtDNA to ptDNA transfer was identified in both Paspalum fimbriatum and P. dilatatum, and suggests a single rare event that took place in a common progenitor. Finally, the framework from this study can guide larger whole plastome sampling to discern the relationships in Cyperochloeae, Steyermarkochloeae, Gynerieae, and other incertae sedis taxa that are weakly supported or unresolved.Fil: Burke, Sean V.. Northern Illinois University; Estados UnidosFil: Wysocki, William P.. Northern Illinois University; Estados UnidosFil: Zuloaga, Fernando Omar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. Academia Nacional de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Botánica Darwinion; ArgentinaFil: Craine, Joseph M.. Jonah Ventures; Estados UnidosFil: Pires, J. Chris. University of Missouri; Estados UnidosFil: Edger, Patrick P.. Michigan State University; Estados UnidosFil: Mayfield Jones, Dustin. Donald Danforth Plant Science Center; Estados UnidosFil: Clark, Lynn G.. Iowa State University; Estados UnidosFil: Kelchner, Scot A.. University of Idaho; Estados UnidosFil: Duvall, Melvin R.. Northern Illinois University; Estados Unido

Practical Considerations in Cloud Utilization for the Science Gateway nanoHUB.org

nanoHUB.org is arguably the largest online nanotechnology user facility in the world. Just between July 2010 and June 2011 it served 177,823 users. 10,477 users ran 393,648 simulation jobs on a variety of computational resources ranging from HUBzero-based virtual execution hosts for rapid, interactive runs as well as grid-based resources for computationally-intense runs. We believe that as such our users experience a fully operational scientific “cloud”-based infrastructure even though it is not using “standard” computational cloud infrastructures such as EC2. In this paper we explore the use of standard computational cloud-based resources to determine whether they can deliver satisfactory outcomes for our users without requiring high personnel costs for configuration. In a science gateway environment, the assignment of jobs to the appropriate computational resource is not trivial. Resource availability, wait time, time to completion, and likelihood of job success must all be considered in order to transparently deliver an acceptable level of service to our users. In this paper, we present preliminary results examining the benefits and drawbacks of utilizing standard computational cloud resources as one potential venue for nanoHUB computational runs. In summary we find that cloud resources performed competitively with other grid resources in terms of wait time, CPU usage, and success in a multiple job submission strategy

Social Desirability and the Celebrity Attitude Scale

The possibility of social desirability bias has often been neglected in the construction and evaluation of attitudinal scales and personality inventories in psychology and related disciplines. The present study aimed to explore the potential influence of such biases on respondents’ self-reported celebrity worship. Specifically, we had a student sample (n = 187) complete a) measures of two different forms of social desirability bias (externally-oriented “Impression management” vs. internally-oriented “self-deceptive positivity”) and b) the Celebrity Attitude Scale (CAS). Results showed that neither measure correlated significantly with the CAS. Furthermore, neither gender nor delivery mode (online vs. paper-and-pencil) mediated the non-significant relationships. Our results add to the confidence researchers might have in using this tool to measure attitudes toward one’s favorite celebrity. Other results are generally consistent with previous studies using the CAS

Maternal Transmission of Resistance to Development of Allergic Airway Disease

Parental phenotype is known to influence the inheritance of atopic diseases, such as allergic asthma, with a maternal history being a more significant risk factor for progeny than paternal history. We hypothesized that recall Th1- or Th2-type immune responses during pregnancy would result in transfer of maternal factors that would differentially impact development of immune responsiveness in offspring. Following weaning, susceptibility and severity of allergic airway disease (a murine model of human asthma) was evaluated in progeny, disease being elicited by immunization with OVA-Al(OH)3 and challenge with aerosolized OVA. We found that progeny of mothers with Th1-biased immunity to OVA subjected to recall aerosol challenge during pregnancy had reduced levels of Ag-specific IgE and airway eosinophilia compared with progeny of mothers with Th2-biased immunity to OVA or naive mothers. Interestingly, progeny of mothers with Th1-type immunity to a heterologous albumin, BSA, were not protected from developing OVA-induced allergic airway disease. These findings demonstrated that maternal transfer of protection from development of allergic airway disease to offspring in this model of maternal Th1-type immunity was Ag specific

Carbon Nanofiber Incorporated Silica Based Aerogels with Di-Isocyanate Cross-Linking

Lightweight materials with excellent thermal insulating properties are highly sought after for a variety of aerospace and aeronautic applications. (1) Silica based aerogels with their high surface area and low relative densities are ideal for applications in extreme environments such as insulators for the Mars Rover battery. (2) However, the fragile nature of aerogel monoliths prevents their widespread use in more down to earth applications. We have shown that the fragile aerogel network can be cross-linked with a di-isocyanate via amine decorated surfaces to form a conformal coating. (3) This coating reinforces the neck regions between secondary silica particles and significantly strengthens the aerogels with only a small effect on density or porosity. Scheme 1 depicts the cross-linking reaction with the di-isocyanate and exhibits the stages that result in polymer cross-linked aerogel monoliths

A worldwide phylogenetic classification of the Poaceae (Gramineae) III: An update

We present an updated worldwide phylogenetic classification of Poaceae with 11 783 species in 12 subfamilies, 7 supertribes, 54 tribes, 5 super subtribes, 109 subtribes, and 789 accepted genera. The subfamilies (in descending order based on the number of species) are Pooideae with 4126 species in 219 genera, 15 tribes, and 34 subtribes; Panicoideae with 3325 species in 242 genera, 14 tribes, and 24 subtribes; Bambusoideae with 1698 species in 136 genera, 3 tribes, and 19 subtribes; Chloridoideae with 1603 species in 121 genera, 5 tribes, and 30 subtribes; Aristidoideae with 367 species in three genera and one tribe; Danthonioideae with 292 species in 19 genera and 1 tribe; Micrairoideae with 192 species in nine genera and three tribes; Oryzoideae with 117 species in 19 genera, 4 tribes, and 2 subtribes; Arundinoideae with 36 species in 14 genera and 3 tribes; Pharoideae with 12 species in three genera and one tribe; Puelioideae with 11 species in two genera and two tribes; and the Anomochlooideae with four species in two genera and two tribes. Two new tribes and 22 new or resurrected subtribes are recognized. Forty-five new (28) and resurrected (17) genera are accepted, and 24 previously accepted genera are placed in synonymy. We also provide an updated list of all accepted genera including common synonyms, genus authors, number of species in each accepted genus, and subfamily affiliation. We propose Locajonoa, a new name and rank with a new combination, L. coerulescens. The following seven new combinations are made in Lorenzochloa: L. bomanii, L. henrardiana, L. mucronata, L. obtusa, L. orurensis, L. rigidiseta, and L. venusta.Fil: Soreng, Robert J.. National Museum of Natural History; Estados UnidosFil: Peterson, Paul M.. National Museum of Natural History; Estados UnidosFil: Zuloaga, Fernando Omar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. Academia Nacional de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Botánica Darwinion; ArgentinaFil: Romaschenko, Konstantin. National Museum of Natural History; Estados UnidosFil: Clark, Lynn G.. IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY (ISU);Fil: Teisher, Jordan K.. No especifíca;Fil: Gillespie, Lynn J.. No especifíca;Fil: Barberá, Patricia. No especifíca;Fil: Welker, Cassiano A. D.. No especifíca;Fil: Kellogg, Elizabeth A.. Donald Danforth Plant Science Center; Estados UnidosFil: Li, De Zhu. No especifíca;Fil: Davidse, Gerrit. No especifíca

A 250 plastome phylogeny of the grass family (Poaceae): topological support under different data partitions

The systematics of grasses has advanced through applications of plastome phylogenomics, although studies have been largely limited to subfamilies or other subgroups of Poaceae. Here we present a plastome phylogenomic analysis of 250 complete plastomes (179 genera) sampled from 44 of the 52 tribes of Poaceae. Plastome sequences were determined from high throughput sequencing libraries and the assemblies represent over 28.7 Mbases of sequence data. Phylogenetic signal was characterized in 14 partitions, including (1) complete plastomes; (2) protein coding regions; (3) noncoding regions; and (4) three loci commonly used in single and multi-gene studies of grasses. Each of the four main partitions was further refined, alternatively including or excluding positively selected codons and also the gaps introduced by the alignment. All 76 protein coding plastome loci were found to be predominantly under purifying selection, but specific codons were found to be under positive selection in 65 loci. The loci that have been widely used in multi-gene phylogenetic studies had among the highest proportions of positively selected codons, suggesting caution in the interpretation of these earlier results. Plastome phylogenomic analyses confirmed the backbone topology for Poaceae with maximum bootstrap support (BP). Among the 14 analyses, 82 clades out of 309 resolved were maximally supported in all trees. Analyses of newly sequenced plastomes were in agreement with current classifications. Five of seven partitions in which alignment gaps were removed retrieved Panicoideae as sister to the remaining PACMAD subfamilies. Alternative topologies were recovered in trees from partitions that included alignment gaps. This suggests that ambiguities in aligning these uncertain regions might introduce a false signal. Resolution of these and other critical branch points in the phylogeny of Poaceae will help to better understand the selective forces that drove the radiation of the BOP and PACMAD clades comprising more than 99.9% of grass diversity