Heritability of testosterone levels in 12-year-old twins and its relation to pubertal development

The aim of this study was to estimate the heritability of variation in testosterone levels in 12-year-old children, and to explore the overlap in genetic and environmental influences on circulating testosterone levels and androgen dependent pubertal development. Midday salivary testosterone samples were collected on two consecutive days in a sample of 183 unselected twin pairs. Androgen induced pubertal development was assessed using self report Tanner scales of pubic hair development (boys and girls) and genital development (boys). A significant contribution of genetic effects to the variance in testosterone levels was found. Heritability was approximately 50% in both boys and girls. The remaining proportion of the variance in testosterone levels could be explained by non-shared environmental influences. The relatively high correlation between testosterone levels of opposite sex dizygotic twins suggests that sex differences in genes influencing variation in testosterone levels have not yet developed in pre- and early puberty. Variance in pubertal development was explained by a large genetic component, moderate shared environmental influences, and a small non-shared environmental effect. Testosterone levels correlated moderately (r = .31) with pubertal development; the covariance between testosterone levels and pubertal development was entirely accounted for by genetic influences

Genetic and environmental covariation between autistic traits and behavioral problems

Objective: To examine the overlap between autistic traits and other behavioral problems in a general population sample, and explore the extent to which this overlap is due to genetic or environmental factors. Method: Youth Self Report (YSR) data were collected in a general population sample of 424 twin pairs at 18 years of age, and their non twin siblings. In 197 of these twin families, self-report ratings on the Autism-spectrum Quotient (AQ) were collected. Results: Stepwise backward regression analyses revealed that of all 8 YSR syndrome scales, the Withdrawn Behavior (WB) and Social Problems (SOC) scale were the most important predictors of AQ scores, and together with sex, explained 23% of the variance in AQ scores. Genetic structural equation modeling showed that the overlap between AQ and WB and SOC was mainly due to genetic effects. About half of the genetic variance in AQ scores was specific to the AQ, with the remaining half shared with genetic variance in WB and SOC. Conclusions: Endorsement of autistic traits in a general population sample is associated with social and withdrawn behavioral problems and these problems partly share a common genetic etiology with autistic traits. However, most of the variance in AQ scores remains unexplained by YSR scores, and half of the genetic variance in AQ is unshared with WB and SOC. These results indicate that autistic traits have specific characteristics that are substantially genetically independent from other common but related behavioral domains such as social problems and withdrawn behavior

Improving Investment Decisions with Simulated Experience

We apply a new and innovative approach to communicating risks associated with financial products that should support investors in making better investment decisions. In our experiments, participants are able to gain "simulated experience” by random sampling of a previously described return distribution. We find that simulated experience considerably improves participants' understanding of the underlying risk-return profile and prompts them to reconsider their investment decisions and to choose riskier financial products without regretting their higher risk-taking behavior afterwards. This method of experienced-based learning has high potential for being integrated into real-world applications and service

Differential partitioning of thiols and glucosinolates between shoot and root in Chinese cabbage upon excess zinc exposure

Zinc (Zn) is one of the important elements of plant growth, however, at elevated level it is toxic. Exposure of Chinese cabbage to elevated Zn2+ concentrations (5 and 10 μM ZnCl2) resulted in enhancement of total sulfur and organic sulfur concentration. Transcript level of APS reductase (APR) as a key enzyme in biosynthesis of primary sulfur compounds (cysteine and thiols), was up-regulated in both shoot and root upon exposure to elevated Zn2+, which was accompanied by an increase in the concentration of cysteine in both tissues. In contrast, the concentration of thiols increased only in the root by 5.5 and 15-fold at 5 and 10 μM Zn2+, respectively, which was in accompanied by an upregulation of ATP sulfurylase, an enzyme responsible for activation of sulfate. An elevated content of glucosinolates, mostly indolic glucosinolates, only in the shoot of plants exposed to excess level of Zn2+ coincided with an increase in gene expression of key biosynthetic enzymes and regulators (CYP79B3, CYP83B1, MYB34). Thus distinct acuumulation patterns of sulfur containing compounds in root and shoot of Chinese cabbage may be a strategy for Chinese cabbage to combat with exposure to excess Zn

Introduction:in: Prayer and Power

Einführung in den Sammelband. Die einzelnen Beiträge des Bandes beleuchten die Phase der Hochblüte der Institution der Gottesgemahlinnen Ägyptens: von der Dritten Zwischenzeit bis in die frühe Spätzeit. Schwerpunkte liegen u.a. auf der Entwicklung des Priesteramtes, der Verflechtung religiöser und politischer Aspekte, dem kulturellen Hintergrund der Gottesgemahlinnen, aber auch beim Einfluss der Femininität auf das maskulin dominierte ägyptische Königtum.Introduction to the anthology. The contributions to this anthology focus on the heyday of the institution of the God’s Wives of Amun in Egypt during the Third Intermediate Period as well as the early Late Period. They address the influence of individual God’s wives in contrast to the influence of femininity in general. Above all, questions concerning their artistic representation, different religious, political and social aspects of the God’s Wives of Amun and their building activities are discussed in several articles

Effects of food-borne nanomaterials on gastrointestinal tissues and microbiota

Ingestion of engineered nanomaterials is inevitable due to their addition to food and prevalence in food packaging and domestic products such as toothpaste and sun cream. In the absence of robust dosimetry and particokinetic data, it is currently challenging to accurately assess the potential toxicity of food-borne nanomaterials. Herein, we review current understanding of gastrointestinal uptake mechanisms, consider some data on the potential for toxicity of the most commonly encountered classes of food-borne nanomaterials (including TiO2 , SiO2 , ZnO, and Ag nanoparticles), and discuss the potential impact of the luminal environment on nanoparticle properties and toxicity. Much of our current understanding of gastrointestinal nanotoxicology is derived from increasingly sophisticated epithelial models that augment in vivo studies. In addition to considering the direct effects of food-borne nanomaterials on gastrointestinal tissues, including the potential role of chronic nanoparticle exposure in development of inflammatory diseases, we also discuss the potential for food-borne nanomaterials to disturb the normal balance of microbiota within the gastrointestinal tract. The latter possibility warrants close attention given the increasing awareness of the critical role of microbiota in human health and the known impact of some food-borne nanomaterials on bacterial viability. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.</p

Self-assembly and two-dimensional spontaneous resolution of cyano-functionalized [7]helicenes on Cu111

Birds of a feather flock together: STM and DFT studies provide the first example of spontaneous chiral resolution of a helicene on a surface. Racemic 6,13-dicyano[7]helicene forms fully segregated domains of pure enantiomers (2D conglomerate) on Cu(111). The propensity of the system to optimize intermolecular CN⋅⋅⋅HC(Ar) hydrogen bonding and CN⋅⋅⋅CN dipolar interactions translates into chiral recognition with preferential assembly of homochiral molecules

Sulfur metabolism in <i>Allium cepa</i> is hardly affected by chloride and sulfate salinity

Salinity as a major agricultural problem can affect crop growth and quality. Onion (Allium cepa L.) plant contains a wide variety of sulfur-containing compounds which may be involved in plant protection against salt stress. In the current study, a similar reduction in growth caused by chloride and sulfate salts was observed when onion was exposed to equimolar concentrations of Na+. Also, no difference was observed for shoot/root ratio and dry matter content of roots and shoots. Plants accumulated Na+ and the respective anions (chloride and sulfate) which in turn caused changes in the content of other nutrients. The content of potassium and calcium was decreased more than the other elements by both sodium salts. Sulfate salinity resulted in substantial increase in total sulfur and sulfate content but chloride salinity affected neither the total sulfur nor sulfate content of the roots and shoots, only in onion exposed to 200 mM chloride salt, those of roots and shoots were reduced. Furthermore, the water-soluble non-protein thiol content as well as the content of alliin remained rather unaffected. In conclusion, either salts affected the uptake and distribution of sulfate in onion, but had no or only a minor effect on the plant sulfur metabolism

The Role of Sexual and Romantic Attraction in Human Mate Preferences

Sex differences in mate preferences are ubiquitous, having been evidenced across generations and cultures. Their prevalence and persistence have compellingly placed them in the evolutionarily adaptive context of sexual selection. However, the psycho-biological mechanisms contributing to their generation and maintenance remain poorly understood. As such a mechanism, sexual attraction is assumed to guide interest, desire, and the affinity toward specific partner features. However, whether sexual attraction can indeed explain sex differences in partner preferences has not been explicitly tested. To better understand how sex and sexual attraction shape mate preferences in humans we assessed how partner preferences differed across the spectrum of sexual attraction in a sample of 479 individuals that identified as asexual, gray-sexual, demisexual or allosexual. We further tested whether romantic attraction predicted preference profiles better than sexual attraction. Our results show that sexual attraction accounts for highly replicable sex differences in mate preferences for high social status and financial prospects, conscientiousness, and intelligence; however, it does not account for the enhanced preference for physical attractiveness expressed by men, which persists even in individuals with low sexual attraction. Instead, sex differences in physical attractiveness preference are better explained by the degree of romantic attraction. Furthermore, effects of sexual attraction on sex differences in partner preferences were grounded in current rather than previous experiences of sexual attraction. Taken together, the results support the idea that contemporary sex differences in partner preferences are maintained by several psycho-biological mechanisms that evolved in conjunction, including not only sexual but also romantic attraction