Repression and relief: Mood and cardiovascular changes following threat, thinking about threat, and threat removal for repressors and nonrepressors

Do persons who typically deny their feelings of anxiety also deny relief when a threatening situation ends? Can such persons create relief in themselves by reconsidering the threat and their resources to cope with the threat? The present study sought to answer these questions and to explore more generally the experiential and cardiovascular nature of emotional relief that emerges from coping with the presence of a threat and then realizing that a threat is no longer present. Preselected in terms of whether or not they typically deny feelings of anxiety ( repressive coping style ), 141 college students participated in two series of manipulations designed to be threatening and then non-threatening. In one series of manipulations, students took a bogus Psychological Sensitivity Test, received computerized feedback that they failed the test, participated in a writing task in which they either wrote about their test performance (experimental condition) or wrote about a typical day in their lives (control condition), and then received feedback that their first test evaluation was incorrect and they had actually passed the test. In the second series of manipulations, students were informed that they had been randomly selected for a (bogus) security check, in which their research credits would be revoked if they did not properly identify themselves on an ambiguous identification task--a task which all subjects did, in fact, pass. During both series of manipulations, heart rate and blood pressure were recorded, and after each manipulation, self-reported mood was assessed. I predicted that, compared to nonrepressors, repressors would exhibit less cardiovascular relaxation while writing about their failure and they would report less relief after success on the bogus test and after passing the security check. As it turned out, repressors\u27 and nonrepressors\u27 cardiovascular responses during the experimental writing task were not significantly different from each other or from cardiovascular activity during the control task. In contrast to nonrepressors, repressors reported more relief following success and (nonsignificantly) less relief after passing the security check. These and other findings suggest that the security check may have been more effective than the test evaluations at eliciting anxiety and relief

Cellular localization of a Hsp90 homologue in Porphyromonas gingivalis

We previously reported an association between elevated serum antibody titers to the 90-kDa human heat shock protein (Hsp90), periodontal health and colonization by Porphyromonas gingivalis . In this study, we examined the cellular localization of the Hsp90 homologue of P. gingivalis . Cultures of P. gingivalis were heat-stressed (45°C) and examined for localization of the Hsp90 homologue. Heat stress induced a 4–5-fold increase in anti-Hsp90 antibody reactivity over that of the unstressed controls. Western blot analysis revealed two bands (44 and 68 kDa) that reacted with anti-Hsp90 antibodies. The 68-kDa band was heat-inducible, while the 44-kDa band was not. Immunogold staining revealed that the Hsp90 homologue localized principally to the membrane and extracellular vesicles. Subcellular fractionation confirmed that the Hsp90 homologue was primarily membrane-associated.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72856/1/j.1574-6968.1999.tb08820.x.pd

Exploring the origin of retail stores in Europe: evidence from Southern Italy from the 6th century BCE to the 3rd century BCE

Retail literature reports considerable research on the role that technology has played in retailing as an enabler of change, with emphasis on the shifting of power from retailers to consumers. While scholarly attention has been paid mainly to investigating the current scenario in order to predict future trends and preview retail settings for the coming years, the origins of the retail process, in terms of physical space for selling activities and history of retailing as discipline of business history, is less investigated. Using qualitative data gathered through historical documents and archaeological findings, the present study goes back beyond modern retail settings to explore the origins of points of sales as early as the Magna Graecia period (600 BCE – 300 BCE). Such historical analysis not only offers an insight into the origin of the modern retailing, but also cast broader questions about the degree to which historical interpretations of the growth of retailing have been evolved, by emphasising that after 2000 years, there are still similarities. To the authors’ knowledge, this current study is the first to extend the baseline for such an understanding back a further millennium or so

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Heritability of fractional anisotropy in human white matter: a comparison of Human Connectome Project and ENIGMA-DTI data

The degree to which genetic factors influence brain connectivity is beginning to be understood. Large-scale efforts are underway to map the profile of genetic effects in various brain regions. The NIH-funded Human Connectome Project (HCP) is providing data valuable for analyzing the degree of genetic influence underlying brain connectivity revealed by state-of-the-art neuroimaging methods. We calculated the heritability of the fractional anisotropy (FA) measure derived from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) reconstruction in 481 HCP subjects (194/287 M/F) consisting of 57/60 pairs of mono- and dizygotic twins, and 246 siblings. FA measurements were derived using (Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis) ENIGMA DTI protocols and heritability estimates were calculated using the SOLAR-Eclipse imaging genetic analysis package. We compared heritability estimates derived from HCP data to those publicly available through the ENIGMA-DTI consortium, which were pooled together from five-family based studies across the US, Europe, and Australia. FA measurements from the HCP cohort for eleven major white matter tracts were highly heritable (h2 = 0.53–0.90, p < 10− 5), and were significantly correlated with the joint-analytical estimates from the ENIGMA cohort on the tract and voxel-wise levels. The similarity in regional heritability suggests that the additive genetic contribution to white matter microstructure is consistent across populations and imaging acquisition parameters. It also suggests that the overarching genetic influence provides an opportunity to define a common genetic search space for future gene-discovery studies. Uniquely, the measurements of additive genetic contribution performed in this study can be repeated using online genetic analysis tools provided by the HCP ConnectomeDB web application

Genetically predicted longer telomere length is associated with increased risk of B-cell lymphoma subtypes

Evidence from a small number of studies suggests that longer telomere length measured in peripheral leukocytes is associated with an increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). However, these studies may be biased by reverse causation, confounded by unmeasured environmental exposures and might miss time points for which prospective telomere measurement would best reveal a relationship between telomere length and NHL risk. We performed an analysis of genetically inferred telomere length and NHL risk in a study of 10 102 NHL cases of the four most common B-cell histologic types and 9562 controls using a genetic risk score (GRS) comprising nine telomere length-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms. This approach uses existing genotype data and estimates telomere length by weighing the number of telomere length-associated variant alleles an individual carries with the published change in kb of telomere length. The analysis of the telomere length GRS resulted in an association between longer telomere length and increased NHL risk [four B-cell histologic types combined; odds ratio (OR) = 1.49, 95% CI 1.22–1.82, P-value = 8.5 × 10−5]. Subtype-specific analyses indicated that chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) was the principal NHL subtype contributing to this association (OR = 2.60, 95% CI 1.93–3.51, P-value = 4.0 × 10−10). Significant interactions were observed across strata of sex for CLL/SLL and marginal zone lymphoma subtypes as well as age for the follicular lymphoma subtype. Our results indicate that a genetic background that favors longer telomere length may increase NHL risk, particularly risk of CLL/SLL, and are consistent with earlier studies relating longer telomere length with increased NHL risk

Symptom-based stratification of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome: multi-dimensional characterisation of international observational cohorts and reanalyses of randomised clinical trials

Background Heterogeneity is a major obstacle to developing effective treatments for patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome. We aimed to develop a robust method for stratification, exploiting heterogeneity in patient-reported symptoms, and to relate these differences to pathobiology and therapeutic response. Methods We did hierarchical cluster analysis using five common symptoms associated with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pain, fatigue, dryness, anxiety, and depression), followed by multinomial logistic regression to identify subgroups in the UK Primary Sjögren's Syndrome Registry (UKPSSR). We assessed clinical and biological differences between these subgroups, including transcriptional differences in peripheral blood. Patients from two independent validation cohorts in Norway and France were used to confirm patient stratification. Data from two phase 3 clinical trials were similarly stratified to assess the differences between subgroups in treatment response to hydroxychloroquine and rituximab. Findings In the UKPSSR cohort (n=608), we identified four subgroups: Low symptom burden (LSB), high symptom burden (HSB), dryness dominant with fatigue (DDF), and pain dominant with fatigue (PDF). Significant differences in peripheral blood lymphocyte counts, anti-SSA and anti-SSB antibody positivity, as well as serum IgG, κ-free light chain, β2-microglobulin, and CXCL13 concentrations were observed between these subgroups, along with differentially expressed transcriptomic modules in peripheral blood. Similar findings were observed in the independent validation cohorts (n=396). Reanalysis of trial data stratifying patients into these subgroups suggested a treatment effect with hydroxychloroquine in the HSB subgroup and with rituximab in the DDF subgroup compared with placebo. Interpretation Stratification on the basis of patient-reported symptoms of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome revealed distinct pathobiological endotypes with distinct responses to immunomodulatory treatments. Our data have important implications for clinical management, trial design, and therapeutic development. Similar stratification approaches might be useful for patients with other chronic immune-mediated diseases. Funding UK Medical Research Council, British Sjogren's Syndrome Association, French Ministry of Health, Arthritis Research UK, Foundation for Research in Rheumatology

The Science Performance of JWST as Characterized in Commissioning

This paper characterizes the actual science performance of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), as determined from the six month commissioning period. We summarize the performance of the spacecraft, telescope, science instruments, and ground system, with an emphasis on differences from pre-launch expectations. Commissioning has made clear that JWST is fully capable of achieving the discoveries for which it was built. Moreover, almost across the board, the science performance of JWST is better than expected; in most cases, JWST will go deeper faster than expected. The telescope and instrument suite have demonstrated the sensitivity, stability, image quality, and spectral range that are necessary to transform our understanding of the cosmos through observations spanning from near-earth asteroids to the most distant galaxies.Comment: 5th version as accepted to PASP; 31 pages, 18 figures; https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1538-3873/acb29

Erratum to: Methods for evaluating medical tests and biomarkers

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s41512-016-0001-y.]