Demand/withdraw patterns in married couples: a test of the individual differences and social structure hypotheses

Demand/withdraw communication patterns have been linked with decreased marital satisfaction and increased likelihood of divorce. To help prevent these occurrences, researchers have looked for the cause(s) of this communication pattern. Two main hypotheses have been proposed: the individual differences hypothesis, which states that personality differences are the cause of this negative communication pattern, and the social structure hypothesis, which states that societal power differences are the cause of the negative communication pattern. While each has received support in extant literature, they have not been tested simultaneously, preventing researchers from directly understanding each hypothesis\u27s relative contribution to demand/withdraw patterns. The current study sought to fill this gap. Thirty-five married couples completed a questionnaire that assessed factors linked to the individual differences hypothesis (i.e., personality characteristics), factors linked with the social structure hypothesis (i.e., power dynamics in the couple), and the couples\u27 use of demand/withdraw patterns. Regression analyses showed that the certain personality characteristics (i.e., neuroticism and perceived stress) linked to the individual differences hypothesis significantly predicted certain demand/withdraw patterns, while the social structure hypothesis as measured by perceived marital power and marital satisfaction were not uniquely predictive of demand/withdraw patterns. In all, the findings support the importance of the individual differences hypothesis in understanding the occurrence of demand/withdraw behavior

Personality and Injury Risk Among Professional Hockey Players

Background: Although much is known about risk for athletic injury, research on the roles of individual differences in personality and temperament on athletic injury has lagged. We hypothesized that professional athletes with high sensation-seeking and extraversion scores, and with low effortful control scores, would experience more injuries over the course of a season, would have more severe injuries, and would miss more total days of play. Methods: Prospective design with questionnaire report at time one and injury tracking throughout an 18-week athletic season. Setting: Professional hockey team in the United States. Participants: Eighteen professional hockey players (ages 21-33). Measurements: Players completed self-report personality (Sensation-Seeking Scale, Form V) and temperament (the Adult Temperament Questionnaire) measures. Quantity and severity of injury, as well as playing time missed, were tracked for 18 weeks. Results: On average, players experienced almost 6 injuries causing a loss of 10 playing days through the season. Those players scoring high on Boredom Susceptibility and Total Sensation-Seeking incurred more total injuries. Those scoring high on temperamental neutral perceptual sensitivity suffered more severe injuries. Conclusions: Athletes who suffered more injuries reported a preference for stimulating environments and boredom with non-stimulating environments. Injury severity was not correlated with sensation-seeking but was related to temperamental perceptual sensitivity. Implications for identification of injury-prone athletes, pre-injury training, and post-injury treatment are discussed

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

25th annual computational neuroscience meeting: CNS-2016

The same neuron may play different functional roles in the neural circuits to which it belongs. For example, neurons in the Tritonia pedal ganglia may participate in variable phases of the swim motor rhythms [1]. While such neuronal functional variability is likely to play a major role the delivery of the functionality of neural systems, it is difficult to study it in most nervous systems. We work on the pyloric rhythm network of the crustacean stomatogastric ganglion (STG) [2]. Typically network models of the STG treat neurons of the same functional type as a single model neuron (e.g. PD neurons), assuming the same conductance parameters for these neurons and implying their synchronous firing [3, 4]. However, simultaneous recording of PD neurons shows differences between the timings of spikes of these neurons. This may indicate functional variability of these neurons. Here we modelled separately the two PD neurons of the STG in a multi-neuron model of the pyloric network. Our neuron models comply with known correlations between conductance parameters of ionic currents. Our results reproduce the experimental finding of increasing spike time distance between spikes originating from the two model PD neurons during their synchronised burst phase. The PD neuron with the larger calcium conductance generates its spikes before the other PD neuron. Larger potassium conductance values in the follower neuron imply longer delays between spikes, see Fig. 17.Neuromodulators change the conductance parameters of neurons and maintain the ratios of these parameters [5]. Our results show that such changes may shift the individual contribution of two PD neurons to the PD-phase of the pyloric rhythm altering their functionality within this rhythm. Our work paves the way towards an accessible experimental and computational framework for the analysis of the mechanisms and impact of functional variability of neurons within the neural circuits to which they belong

Pilot comparison of the ease of swallowing of single tablet antiretroviral regimens

Daily adherence to lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART) is required to achieve long term treatment success. However, patient preferences for ART tablet size have not been well studied. Our study assessed factors associated with the ease of swallowing (EoS) and tolerability of two placebo tablets representing and matching B/F/TAF (BPT) and DTG/ABC/3TC (DPT). Fifty ART-naïve patients were randomized into a two-period cross-over study. Likert scale (1-5) questionnaires were administered to assess patient factors influencing the ease of swallowing, adherence, home medications, medication preferences and perceptions. Comparisons were done using Student t-tests and ordinal regression. Participants were 64% female, 61% white, mean age 43 years, and taking a mean (median) of 4(1) pills/day. BPT was reported to be easier than DPT with ease of swallowability 1.76 vs. 2.42 (p \u3c 0.001) (1 = very easy). DPT tablet was correctly perceived as larger than BPT (p \u3c 0.001); with both tablets perceived as smaller than actual size (p \u3c 0.001). EoS of either tablet was positively associated with the EoS of the largest home tablet medication (p = 0.021, p = 0.03). Patient\u27s perceptions of EoS can affect their medication adherence, especially in HIV, and should be considered in treatment regimens