Psychological and Biological Foundations of Time Preference: Evidence from a Day Reconstruction Study with Biological Tracking

This paper considers the relationship between the economic concept of time preference and relevant concepts from psychology and biology. Using novel data from a time diary study conducted in Ireland that combined detailed psychometric testing with medical testing and real-time bio-tracking, we examine the distribution of a number of psychometric measures linked to the economic concept of time preferences and test the extent to which these measures form coherent clusters and the degree to which these clusters are related to underlying biological substrates. The paper finds that financial discounting is related to a range of psychological variables including consideration of future consequences, self-control, conscientiousness, extraversion, and experiential avoidance as well as being predicted by heart rate variability and blood pressure.time preferences, day reconstruction study, economics and psychology, economics and biology

The Role of Awakening Cortisol and Psychological Distress in Diurnal Variations in Affect: A Day Reconstruction Study

People often feel unhappy in the morning but better later in the day, and this pattern may be amplified in the distressed. Past work suggests that one function of cortisol is to energize people in the mornings. In a study of 174 students we tested to see if daily affect patterns, psychological distress, and awakening cortisol levels were interlinked. Affect levels were assessed using the Day Reconstruction Method (Kahneman, Krueger, Schkade, Schwarz, & Stone, 2004) and psychological distress was measured using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (Antony, Bieling, Cox, Enns, & Swinson, 1998). On average positive affect increased markedly in a linear pattern across the day whilst negative affect decreased linearly. For the highly distressed this pattern was stronger for positive affect. Lower than average morning cortisol, as assessed by two saliva samples at waking and two samples 30 minutes after waking, predicted a clear increasing pattern of positive affect throughout the day. When we examined the interlinkages between affect patterns, distress, and cortisol our results showed that a pronounced linear increase in positive affect from morning through to evening occurred chiefly among distressed people with below average cortisol levels upon awakening. Psychological distress, whilst not strongly associated with morning cortisol levels, does appear to interact with cortisol levels to profoundly influence affect.Cortisol, Psychological Distress, Positive Affect, Diurnal Variation, Day Reconstruction Method

Porous silica spheres as indoor air pollutant scavengers

Porous silica spheres were investigated for their effectiveness in removing typical indoor air pollutants, such as aromatic and carbonyl-containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and compared to the commercially available polymer styrene-divinylbenzene (XAD-4). The silica spheres and the XAD-4 resin were coated on denuder sampling devices and their adsorption efficiencies for volatile organic compounds evaluated using an indoor air simulation chamber. Real indoor sampling was also undertaken to evaluate the affinity of the silica adsorbents for a variety of indoor VOCs. The silica sphere adsorbents were found to have a high affinity for polar carbonyls and found to be more efficient than the XAD-4 resin at adsorbing carbonyls in an indoor environment

A Method for Evaluating Storm-Damaged Cotton for Extension County Agents and Specialists

Extension county agents and specialists are often asked to provide unbiased crop damage assessments when storms occur. There is generally no published methodology on which to base damage assessments. The objectives of the project described here were to (a) provide an unbiased database to producers and crop insurance representatives and (b) develop an unbiased, in-field method for damage evaluations for cotton. This method proved to be effective in allowing Extension personnel to monitor crop damage over time as a result of the storm. It provided an unbiased database for use by Extension and USDA workers, producers, and crop insurance personnel

Mass Spectrometry Quantification, Localization, and Discovery of Feeding-Related Neuropeptides in Cancer borealis

The crab Cancer borealis nervous system is an important model for understanding neural circuit dynamics and modulation, but the identity of neuromodulatory substances and their influence on circuit dynamics in this system remains incomplete, particularly with respect to behavioral state-dependent modulation. Therefore, we used a multifaceted mass spectrometry (MS) method to identify neuropeptides that differentiate the unfed and fed states. Duplex stable isotope labeling revealed that the abundance of 80 of 278 identified neuropeptides was distinct in ganglia and/or neurohemal tissue from fed vs unfed animals. MS imaging revealed that an additional 7 and 11 neuropeptides exhibited altered spatial distributions in the brain and the neuroendocrine pericardial organs (POs), respectively, during these two feeding states. Furthermore, de novo sequencing yielded 69 newly identified putative neuropeptides that may influence feeding state-related neuromodulation. Two of these latter neuropeptides were determined to be upregulated in PO tissue from fed crabs, and one of these two peptides influenced heartbeat in ex vivo preparations. Overall, the results presented here identify a cohort of neuropeptides that are poised to influence feeding-related behaviors, providing valuable opportunities for future functional studies

Urinary ATP and visualization of intracellular bacteria: a superior diagnostic marker for recurrent UTI in renal transplant recipients?

Renal transplant recipients (RTR) are highly susceptible to urinary tract infections (UTIs) with over 50% of patients having at least one UTI within the first year. Yet it is generally acknowledged that there is considerable insensitivity and inaccuracy in routine urinalysis when screening for UTIs. Thus a large number of transplant patients with genuine urine infections may go undiagnosed and develop chronic recalcitrant infections, which can be associated with graft loss and morbidity. Given a recent study demonstrating ATP is released by urothelial cells in response to bacteria exposure, possibly acting at metabotropic P2Y receptors mediating a proinflammatory response, we have investigated alternative, and possibly more appropriate, urinalysis techniques in a cohort of RTRs.Mid-stream urine (MSU) samples were collected from 53 outpatient RTRs. Conventional leukocyte esterase and nitrite dipstick tests, and microscopic pyuria counts (in 1 ?l), ATP concentration measurements, and identification of intracellular bacteria in shed urothelial cells, were performed on fresh unspun samples and compared to ‘gold-standard’ bacterial culture results.Of the 53 RTRs, 22% were deemed to have a UTI by ‘gold-standard’ conventional bacteria culture, whereas 87%, 8% and 4% showed evidence of UTIs according to leukocyte esterase dipstick, nitrite dipstick, and a combination of both dipsticks, respectively. Intracellular bacteria were visualized in shed urothelial cells of 44% of RTRs, however only 1 of the 23 RTRs (44%) was deemed to have a UTI by conventional bacteria culture. A significant association of the ‘gold-standard’ test with urinary ATP concentration combined with visualization of intracellular bacteria in shed urothelial cells was determined using the Fisher’s exact test.It is apparent that standard bedside tests for UTIs give variable results and that seemingly quiescent bacteria in urothelial cells are very common in RTRs and may represent a focus of subclinical infection. Furthermore, our results suggest urinary ATP concentration combined with detection of intracellular bacteria in shed urinary epithelial cells may be a sensitive means by which to detect ‘occult’ infection in RTRs

Multiscale modeling of solute diffusion in triblock copolymer membranes

We develop a multiscale simulation model for diffusion of solutes through porous triblock copolymer membranes. The approach combines two techniques: self-consistent field theory (SCFT) to predict the structure of the self-assembled, solvated membrane and on-lattice kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) simulations to model diffusion of solutes. Solvation is simulated in SCFT by constraining the glassy membrane matrix while relaxing the brush-like membrane pore coating against the solvent. The kMC simulations capture the resulting solute spatial distribution and concentration-dependent local diffusivity in the polymer-coated pores; we parameterize the latter using particle-based simulations. We apply our approach to simulate solute diffusion through nonequilibrium morphologies of a model triblock copolymer, and we correlate diffusivity with structural descriptors of the morphologies. We also compare the model's predictions to alternative approaches based on simple lattice random walks and find our multiscale model to be more robust and systematic to parameterize. Our multiscale modeling approach is general and can be readily extended in the future to other chemistries, morphologies, and models for the local solute diffusivity and interactions with the membrane

Are Mandates the Answer? Improving Palliative Care and Pain Management in Vermont

Background: The Vermont legislature (bill H.435, Sec. 19) has tasked the Vermont Board of Medical Practice (VBMP) with making a formal recommendation on improving Vermont health professionals’ knowledge and practice of Palliative Care and Pain Management (PC/PM). In collaboration with the VBMP, our group set out to answer the following questions: • How confident/competent are VT physicians in the practice of PC/PM? • What are the barriers to achieving optimal patient care in PC/PM? • Do VT physicians believe mandatory CME would improve the overall quality of care in PC/PM? • What are the best methods of providing Continuing Medical Education (CME)?https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1040/thumbnail.jp

Oceanic emissions of dimethyl sulfide and methanethiol and their contribution to sulfur dioxide production in the marine atmosphere

Oceanic emissions of dimethyl sulfide (CH3SCH3, DMS) have long been recognized to impact aerosol particle composition and size, the concentration of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), and Earth's radiation balance. The impact of oceanic emissions of methanethiol (CH3SH, MeSH), which is produced by the same oceanic precursor as DMS, on the volatile sulfur budget of the marine atmosphere is largely unconstrained. Here we present direct flux measurements of MeSH oceanic emissions using the eddy covariance (EC) method with a high-resolution proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer (PTR-ToFMS) detector and compare them to simultaneous flux measurements of DMS emissions from a coastal ocean site. Campaign mean mixing ratios of DMS and MeSH were 72&thinsp;ppt (28&ndash;90&thinsp;ppt interquartile range) and 19.1&thinsp;ppt (7.6&ndash;24.5&thinsp;ppt interquartile range), respectively. Campaign mean emission fluxes of DMS (FDMS) and MeSH (FMeSH) were 1.13&thinsp;ppt&thinsp;m&thinsp;s&minus;1 (0.53&ndash;1.61&thinsp;ppt&thinsp;m&thinsp;s&minus;1 interquartile range) and 0.21&thinsp;ppt&thinsp;m&thinsp;s&minus;1 (0.10&ndash;0.31&thinsp;ppt&thinsp;m&thinsp;s&minus;1 interquartile range), respectively. Linear least squares regression of observed MeSH and DMS flux indicates the emissions are highly correlated with each other (R2=0.65) over the course of the campaign, consistent with a shared oceanic source. The campaign mean DMS to MeSH flux ratio (FDMS:FMeSH) was 5.5&thinsp;&plusmn;&thinsp;3.0, calculated from the ratio of&nbsp;304 individual coincident measurements of FDMS and FMeSH. Measured FDMS:FMeSH was weakly correlated (R2=0.15) with ocean chlorophyll concentrations, with FDMS:FMeSH reaching a maximum of 10.8&thinsp;&plusmn;&thinsp;4.4 during a phytoplankton bloom period. No other volatile sulfur compounds were observed by PTR-ToFMS to have a resolvable emission flux above their flux limit of detection or to have a gas-phase mixing ratio consistently above their limit of detection during the study period, suggesting DMS and MeSH are the dominant volatile organic sulfur compounds emitted from the ocean at this site. The impact of this MeSH emission source on atmospheric budgets of sulfur dioxide (SO2) was evaluated by implementing observed emissions in a coupled ocean&ndash;atmosphere chemical box model using a newly compiled MeSH oxidation mechanism. Model results suggest that MeSH emissions lead to afternoon instantaneous SO2 production of 2.5&thinsp;ppt&thinsp;h&minus;1, which results in a 43&thinsp;% increase in total SO2 production compared to a case where only DMS emissions are considered and accounts for 30% of the instantaneous SO2 production in the marine boundary layer at the mean measured FDMS and FMeSH. This contribution of MeSH to SO2 production is driven by a higher effective yield of SO2 from MeSH oxidation and the shorter oxidation lifetime of MeSH compared to DMS. This large additional source of marine SO2 has not been previously considered in global models of marine sulfur cycling. The field measurements and modeling results presented here demonstrate that MeSH is an important contributor to volatile sulfur budgets in the marine atmosphere and must be measured along with DMS in order to constrain marine sulfur budgets. This large additional source of marine&ndash;reduced sulfur from MeSH will contribute to particle formation and growth and CCN abundance in the marine atmosphere, with subsequent impacts on climate. &nbsp;</p

Impaired in vivo binding of MeCP2 to chromatin in the absence of its DNA methyl-binding domain

MeCP2 is a methyl-CpG-binding protein that is a main component of brain chromatin in vertebrates. In vitro studies have determined that in addition to its specific methyl-CpG-binding domain (MBD) MeCP2 also has several chromatin association domains. However, the specific interactions of MeCP2 with methylated or non-methylated chromatin regions and the structural characteristics of the resulting DNA associations in vivo remain poorly understood. We analysed the role of the MBD in MeCP2-chromatin associations in vivo using an MeCP2 mutant Rett syndrome mouse model (Mecp2(tm1.1Jae)) in which exon 3 deletion results in an N-terminal truncation of the protein, including most of the MBD. Our results show that in mutant mice, the truncated form of MeCP2 (delta MeCP2) is expressed in different regions of the brain and liver, albeit at 50% of its wild-type (wt) counterpart. In contrast to the punctate nuclear distribution characteristic of wt MeCP2, delta MeCP2 exhibits both diffuse nuclear localization and a substantial retention in the cytoplasm, suggesting a dysfunction of nuclear transport. In mutant brain tissue, neuronal nuclei are smaller, and delta MeCP2 chromatin is digested faster by nucleases, producing a characteristic nuclease-resistant dinucleosome. Although a fraction of delta MeCP2 is found associated with nucleosomes, its interaction with chromatin is transient and weak. Thus, our results unequivocally demonstrate that in vivo the MBD of MeCP2 together with its adjacent region in the N-terminal domain are critical for the proper interaction of the protein with chromatin, which cannot be replaced by any other of its protein domains