Role of Hepatic Lipase and Endothelial Lipase in High-Density Lipoprotein—Mediated Reverse Cholesterol Transport

Reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) constitutes a key part of the atheroprotective properties of high-density lipoproteins (HDL). Hepatic lipase (HL) and endothelial lipase (EL) are negative regulators of plasma HDL cholesterol levels. Although overexpression of EL decreases overall macrophage-to-feces RCT, knockout of both HL and EL leaves RCT essentially unaffected. With respect to important individual steps of RCT, current data on the role of EL and HL in cholesterol efflux are not conclusive. Both enzymes increase hepatic selective cholesterol uptake; however, this does not translate into altered biliary cholesterol secretion, which is regarded the final step of RCT. Also, the impact of HL and EL on atherosclerosis is not clear cut; rather it depends on respective experimental conditions and chosen models. More mechanistic insights into the diverse biological properties of these enzymes are therefore required to firmly establish EL and HL as targets for the treatment of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease

Do Our Psychological Laws Apply Only to College Students?:External Validity Revisited

That most psychological research is conducted with students led to concerns that psychological laws apply only to this population. These fears are based on Campbell and Stanley's concept of external validity that specifies the extent to which research findings can be generalized. This concept is based on an inductivist philosophy. As philosophers of science have argued since Hume, one cannot derive general laws from singular observations. Instead, one develops theories and uses empirical studies to test these theories. This solves the problem of generalization because the domain of applicability is specified by the theory. Reports that studies result in different findings when conducted in different cultures are unproblematic as long as these differences can be explained with psychological theories

Many analysts, one data set: making transparent how variations in analytic choices affect results

Twenty-nine teams involving 61 analysts used the same data set to address the same research question: whether soccer referees are more likely to give red cards to dark-skin-toned players than to light-skin-toned players. Analytic approaches varied widely across the teams, and the estimated effect sizes ranged from 0.89 to 2.93 (Mdn = 1.31) in odds-ratio units. Twenty teams (69%) found a statistically significant positive effect, and 9 teams (31%) did not observe a significant relationship. Overall, the 29 different analyses used 21 unique combinations of covariates. Neither analysts’ prior beliefs about the effect of interest nor their level of expertise readily explained the variation in the outcomes of the analyses. Peer ratings of the quality of the analyses also did not account for the variability. These findings suggest that significant variation in the results of analyses of complex data may be difficult to avoid, even by experts with honest intentions. Crowdsourcing data analysis, a strategy in which numerous research teams are recruited to simultaneously investigate the same research question, makes transparent how defensible, yet subjective, analytic choices influence research results

The antecedents and outcomes of creative cognition

This chapter summarises the antecedents and outcomes that are associated with creative potential and creative achievement, as well as the outcomes of creative practice and engagement with the arts. It provides a concise overview of the relationships between creativity and individual or dispositional factors such as intelligence, personality and executive functions, while also exploring the effects of environmental or situational factors, such as reward and evaluation, on creativity and motivation with an especial focus on two important outcomes of creative cognition, academic achievement and wellbeing. The consequences associated with engagement in creative practice and arts-integrated teaching are also discussed

Decision diversion in diverse teams: Findings from inside a corporate boardroom

Using qualitative data from a 5-year participant observation study conducted inside the corporate board of a publicly-held company, we discovered what happened when team composition changed to increase the diversity of perspectives and interests represented on the team. Based on board meeting transcripts over the 5-year period, we observed that a change in team composition was followed by a process we label decision diversion, a dysfunctional process in which the team replaced its goal of effective task performance with negotiating the interests of subgroup members. A key insight of our study is that this process unfolded as team members attempted to engage in effective task-based information analysis and decision-making. Our study suggests that the traditional assumptions underlying the understanding of team composition may be insufficient. We provide alternative explanations for the origins of the dynamics of decision diversion in teams. In their search for the microprocesses through which diverse team members interact with one another, Harvey, Currall, and Hammer discover a process they call decision diversion: the team’s replacement of its goal of effective task performance with negotiating the interests of subgroup members. This discovery emerges from the in-depth, longitudinal study of the meetings of a corporate board. Quoting one of the referees, “the interesting insight is that increases in the diversity of perspectives and interests represented on the board required processing and integrating large amounts of complex information which the board failed to do, resulting in decision diversion.” This finding challenges some established assumptions, and its implications for our understanding of team composition suggest new questions for research on team diversity

The routinization of innovation research: a constructively critical review of the state-of-the-science

In this review we argue that facilitators of innovation at the individual, group, and organizational levels have been reliably identified, and that validated process models of innovation have been developed. However, a content analysis of selected research published between 1997 and 2002 suggests a routinization of innovation research, with a heavy focus on replicationextension, cross-sectional designs, and a single level of analysis. We discuss five innovative pathways for future work: Study innovation as an independent variable, across cultures, within a multi-level framework, and use meta-analysis and triangulation. To illustrate we propose a distress-related innovation model of the relations between negatively connotated variables and innovation at the individual, group, and organizational levels of analysis

Individuals in mind, mates by heart:Individualistic self-construal and collective value orientation as predictors of group creativity

It has been argued that groups with individualistic norms are more creative than groups with collectivistic norms (Goncalo &. Staw, 2006). This conclusion, however, may be too unspecific, as individualism-collectivism denotes a multidimensional continuum and may affect people's self-construal and values. This study analyzed to what extent these dimensions differentially impact upon group creativity. After manipulating self-construal and value orientation, 58 triads engaged in a brainstorming task. Groups with collectivistic value orientation generated more ideas than groups with individualistic value orientation. Furthermore, there was an interaction between value orientation and self-construal on originality: ideas were more original when group members combined collectivistic value orientation with individualistic self-construal. Thus, groups should integrate elements of both individualism and collectivism to ensure high creativity. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Self-Concept Clarity and the Management of Social Conflict

In 4 studies we examined the relationship between self-concept clarity and conflict management. Individuals with higher self-concept clarity were overall more active and showed more cooperative problem-solving behavior than people with low self-concept clarity. There were no relationships with contending or yielding. The positive relationship with cooperative behavior was mediated by less rumination (Study 2) and moderated by conflict intensity (Study 3). Specifically, it applied to relatively mild conflicts (Study 3). Finally, Study 4 extended these findings to the group level: Dyad members with higher self-concept clarity engaged in problem solving, whereas dyad members with lower self-concept clarity did not. We conclude that higher self-concept clarity associates with proactive problem solving in social conflict