Modulation of social behavior by the agouti pigmentation gene

Agouti is a secreted neuropeptide that acts as an endogenous antagonist of melanocortin receptors. Mice and rats lacking agouti (called non-agouti) have dark fur due to a disinhibition of melanocortin signaling and pigment deposition in the hair follicle. Non-agouti animals have also been reported to exhibit altered behavior, despite no evidence for the expression of agouti outside the skin. Here we confirm that non-agouti mice show altered social behavior and uncover expression of agouti in the preputial gland, a sebaceous organ in the urinary tract that secretes molecules involved in social behavior. Non-agouti mice had enlarged preputial glands and altered levels of putative preputial pheromones and surgical removal of the gland reversed the behavioral phenotype. These findings demonstrate the existence of an autologous, out-of-skin pathway for the modulation of social behavio

Study of an urban wild boar population in Castelldefels

PòsterJun

Complementaries to Kummer's degree seven reciprocity law and a Dickson Diophantine system

Let ${\mathbb Q}(\zeta)$ be the cyclotomic field obtained from ${\mathbb Q}$ by adjoining a primitive seventh root of unity $\zeta$. Normalized primary elements of this field are characterized and related to Jacobi sums and to solutions of a system of quadratic Diophantine equations of Dickson type involving a rational prime $p\equiv 1\pmod{7}$. These objects and their connection are then used to give another formulation of the complementary laws to Kummer's reciprocity law of degree seven

SOCIAL CAPITAL AND POLITENESS STRATEGIES IN FOSTERING ETHNIC RELATIONS IN MALAYSIA AND PHILIPPINES

Social capital helps in developing relationships among people in a community or from one community to the other. The concept of social capital focuses on social relationships or individual relationship which is an important tool in building a united and progressive society. It goes without saying that in a multi-ethnic and multilingual society, social capital is necessary to help foster unity and harmony among various ethnic groups. However, such socialization and sharing of knowledge can be obstructed in multi-ethnic societies by social barriers in the form of negative preconceptions towards other ethnic groups. Stereotyping is the result of distancing due to prejudice, which is usually the result of ignorance of the values and culture of other groups. The similarities of the cultural and social values among the Malays, Chinese and Indians for instance, the use of address terms, non-verbal signs and discourse norms in interaction as politeness strategies within their ethnic groups or across the major ethnic groups foster better and harmonious relationships. Similarly, in the Philippines different ethnic groups from the various regions of the country are able to share the same culture and values when interacting with one another

Descriptive Analysis of the Surigaonon Language

journal articl

Discourse of Leader in an Academic Setting: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Email Messages

The focus of this paper is to examine the discourse of an academic leader through emails. This paper will examine the micro and macro level of leadership discourse. To analyze the data, Fairclough’s (1993) framework which includes the analysis of textual practice, discourse practice, and social practice will be used. In analyzing the discourse at the micro level, the paper will examine the textual practice which includes vocabulary, grammar, and text structure. In addition, genre and style of text and social practice will also be analyzed