652 research outputs found
Postmaterialism and Political Elites: The Value Priorities of Brazilian Federal Legislators
We examine the distribution and consequences of postmaterialist
value orientations among national legislators in Brazil. Using data collected
in the Brazilian Legislative Survey in 2013, we undertake the first systematic
study of postmaterialism within the National Congress and the party system
and map the materialist/postmaterialist scale onto other salient divisions
within the political class. We present five main findings. First, political elites
evince vastly higher commitment to postmaterialism than the mass public.
Second, Brazilian political elites drawn from constituencies with higher
human development are more postmaterialist than their counterparts in
other constituencies. Third, within the political class, the materialist/postmaterialist cleavage overlaps in important ways with the leftâright cleavage.
Fourth, although postmaterialism successfully predicts elite attitudes on a
number of ânew politicsâ issues that are unrelated to the construction of the
postmaterialist scale itself, postmaterialism is a poor predictor of voting
behavior on the Congressional floor. Fifth, as others before us, we find
institutional factors to be better predictors of legislative voting behavior in
the Brazilian context
Examining Whether Semantic Cues Can Affect Felt Heaviness When Lifting Novel Objects
This is the final version. Available on open access from Ubiquity Press via the DOI in this recordData Accessibility Statement:
Raw data, and the preregistered analysis plan, can be found at: https://osf.io/ug3hc/It is well established that manipulations of low-level stimulus properties unrelated to mass can impact perception of heaviness, the most famous example being the size-weight illusion whereby small objects feel heavier than equally-weighted larger objects. Interestingly, manipulations of high-level cues such as material have also induced weight illusions, highlighting that cognitive expectations alone are enough to create illusory weight differences. Less is known, however, about what type of cognitive expectations can influence perception of heaviness. As labels are often used to signify the heaviness of objects, this study examined whether semantic cues could induce a novel weight illusion. Participants lifted equally-sized and equally-weighted sets of objects labelled as 'light' and 'heavy' and reported their perceived heaviness both prior to and after lifting. Fingertip forces were also measured to understand how semantic cues may influence sensorimotor prediction. The labels clearly affected pre-lift-off expectations of heaviness. By contrast, we found no effect of these labels on the perceived heaviness of objects, nor on the forces used to grip and lift them on early trials. In other words, we find no evidence that semantic cues affect perception or action enough to induce a novel weight illusion. These findings suggest that the explicit expectations created by the labels did not dominate the implicit expectations created by the equal sizes of the objects, highlighting the segregated nature of cognitive expectations and their variable influences on perception and action
Parathyroid hormone-related protein-stanniocalcin antagonism in regulation of bicarbonate secretion and calcium precipitation in a marine fish intestine
Parathyroid hormone-related protein-stanniocalcin antagonism in regulation of bicarbonate secretion and calcium precipitation in a marine fish intestine. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 299: R150âR158, 2010. First published April 21, 2010; doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00378.2009.âBicarbonate secretion in the intestine (duodenum) of marine fish has been suggested to play a major role in regulation of calcium availability for uptake. However, while the end process may lead to carbonate precipitation, regulation of transport of calcium and/or bicarbonate may actually
result in fine-tuning of calcium availability for transport. To test this
hypothesis, sea bream (Sparus auratus) duodenal preparations were mounted in Ussing-type chambers and the effect of parathyroid
hormone-related protein (PTHrP) and stanniocalcin 1 (STC 1) on the control of intestinal bicarbonate secretion and calcium transport was analyzed. As expected, PTHrP increased net calcium uptake, as a result of an increase of calcium uptake without changes in calcium efflux. In contrast, purified sea bream STC 1 caused a minor decrease of calcium uptake and a two- to threefold increase in calcium efflux. As a result, STC 1 was able to invert the calcium flux from net calcium uptake to net calcium loss, which is in keeping with its known
actions as a hypocalcemic factor. Furthermore, both PTHrP and STC 1 regulate intestinal bicarbonate secretion. PTHrP increased calcium uptake and simultaneously reduced the single factor that induces
calcium precipitation, bicarbonate secretion. In contrast, STC 1, while
reversing the calcium net flux to make it secretory, promoted intestinal bicarbonate secretion, both actions directed to decrease the calcium gradient across the epithelium and promote immobilization in the form of bicarbonate in the intestinal lumen. Together our results provide robust evidence to support an antagonistic action of PTHrP
and STC 1 in the fine control of movements of both calcium and bicarbonate in the intestine of seawater fish.This work was supported by Ministry of Science and Higher Education and European Social Funds through the Portuguese National Science Foundation Projects POCTI/CVT/55683/2004 and TDC/MAR/104008/2008 to J. Fuentes
Clinical biological and genetic heterogeneity of the inborn errors of pulmonary surfactant metabolism
Pulmonary surfactant is a multimolecular complex located at the air-water interface within the alveolus to which a range of physical (surface-active properties) and immune functions has been assigned. This complex consists of a surface-active lipid layer (consisting mainly of phospholipids), and of an aqueous subphase. From discrete surfactant sub-fractions one can isolate strongly hydrophobic surf acta nt proteins B (SP-B) and C (SP-C) as well as collectins SP-A and SP-D, which were shown to have specific structural, metabolic, or immune properties. Inborn or acquired abnormalities of the surfactant, qualitative or quantitative in nature, account for a number of human diseases. Beside hyaline membrane disease of the preterm neonate, a cluster of hereditary or acquired lung diseases has been characterized by periodic acid-Schiff-positive material filling the alveoli. From this heterogeneous nosologic group, at least two discrete entities presently emerge. The first is the SP-B deficiency, in which an essentially proteinaceous material is stored within the alveoli, and which represents an autosomal recessive Mendelian entity linked to the SFTPB gene (MIM 1786640). The disease usually generally entails neonatal respiratory distress with rapid fatal outcome, although partial or transient deficiencies have also been observed. The second is alveolar proteinosis, characterized by the storage of a mixed protein and lipid material, which constitutes a relatively heterogeneous clinical and biological syndrome, especially with regard to age at onset (from the neonate through to adulthood) as well as the severity of associated signs. Murine models, with a targeted mutation of the gene encoding granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) (Csfgm) or the beta subunit of its receptor (II3rb1) support the hypothesis of an abnormality of surfactant turnover in which the alveolar macrophage is a key player. Apart from SP-B deficiency, in which a near-consensus diagnostic chart can be designed, the ascertainment of other abnormalities of surfactant metabolism is not straightforward. The disentanglement of this disease cluster is however essential to propose specific therapeutic procedures: repeated broncho-alveolar ravages, GM-CSF replacement, bone marrow grafting or lung transplantation
âDo i care?â young adults' recalled experiences of early adolescent overweight and obesity: a qualitative study
<p>Objective:Â Individual behaviour change to reduce obesity requires awareness of, and concern about, weight. This paper therefore describes how young adults, known to have been overweight or obese during early adolescence, recalled early adolescent weight-related awareness and concerns. Associations between recalled concerns and weight-, health- and peer-related survey responses collected during adolescence are also examined.</p>
<p>Design:Â Qualitative semi-structured interviews with young adults; data compared with responses to self-report questionnaires obtained in adolescence.</p>
<p>Participants:Â A total of 35 participants, purposively sub-sampled at age 24 from a longitudinal study of a school year cohort, previously surveyed at ages 11, 13 and 15. Physical measures during previous surveys allowed identification of participants with a body mass index (BMI) indicative of overweight or obesity (based on British 1990 growth reference) during early adolescence. Overall, 26 had been obese, of whom 11 had BMI99.6th centile, whereas 9 had been overweight (BMI=95thâ97.9th centile).</p>
<p>Measures:Â Qualitative interview responses describing teenage life, with prompts for school-, social- and health-related concerns. Early adolescent self-report questionnaire data on weight-worries, self-esteem, friends and victimisation (closed questions).</p>
<p>Results:Â Most, but not all recalled having been aware of their overweight. None referred to themselves as having been obese. None recalled weight-related health worries. Recollection of early adolescent obesity varied from major concerns impacting on much of an individual's life to almost no concern, with little relation to actual severity of overweight. Recalled concerns were not clearly patterned by gender, but young adult males recalling concerns had previously reported more worries about weight, lower self-esteem, fewer friends and more victimisation in early adolescence; no such pattern was seen among females.
Conclusion:Â The popular image of the unhappy overweight teenager was not borne out. Many obese adolescents, although well aware of their overweight recalled neither major dissatisfaction nor concern. Weight-reduction behaviours are unlikely in such circumstances.</p>
What is regulation? An interdisciplinary concept analysis
The concept of regulation is believed to suffer from a lack of shared understanding. Yet, the maturation of the field raises the question whether this conclusion is still valid. By taking a new methodological approach towards this question of conceptual consolidation, this study assesses how regulation is conceived in the most-cited articles in six social science disciplines. Four main conclusions are drawn. First, there is a remarkable absence of explicit definitions. Second, the scope of the concept is vast, which requires us to talk about regulation in rather abstract terms. Third, scholars largely agree that âprototype regulationâ is characterised by interventions which are intentional and direct â involving binding standard-setting, monitoring and sanctioning â and exercised by public-sector actors on the economic activities of private-sector actors. Fourth, while there is considerable variation in research concerns, this variation cannot be attributed to disciplinary differences. Instead, our findings support the portrayal of the field as interdisciplinary, including a shared conception of regulation
Genome-wide analyses for personality traits identify six genomic loci and show correlations with psychiatric disorders
Personality is influenced by genetic and environmental factors1
and associated with mental health. However, the underlying
genetic determinants are largely unknown. We identified six
genetic loci, including five novel loci2,3, significantly associated
with personality traits in a meta-analysis of genome-wide
association studies (N = 123,132â260,861). Of these genomewide
significant loci, extraversion was associated with variants
in WSCD2 and near PCDH15, and neuroticism with variants
on chromosome 8p23.1 and in L3MBTL2. We performed a
principal component analysis to extract major dimensions
underlying genetic variations among five personality traits
and six psychiatric disorders (N = 5,422â18,759). The first
genetic dimension separated personality traits and psychiatric
disorders, except that neuroticism and openness to experience
were clustered with the disorders. High genetic correlations
were found between extraversion and attention-deficitâ
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and between openness and
schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The second genetic
dimension was closely aligned with extraversionâintroversion
and grouped neuroticism with internalizing psychopathology
(e.g., depression or anxiety)
Life course epidemiology: recognising the importance of adolescence
Life course epidemiology may be conceptualised as âthe study of long term effects on later health or disease risk of physical or social exposures during gestation, childhood, adolescence, young adulthood and later adult life.â1 Adolescence, the period between childhood and adulthood defined by the WHO as 10â19â
years, has an uneasy status in epidemiology. On the one hand, adolescents, who now number over 1.2 billion worldwideâaround 20% of the global populationâare highly visible in population-based studies. Young people's behaviours have been an important subject of epidemiological inquiry, from tobacco and alcohol use to violence and sexual activity. Yet, concepts of adolescence as a discrete stage in the life course have been much less discussed within epidemiology. This is particularly so in studies of the developmental origins of adult health and disease, which have focused on the influence on adult health outcomes of exposures from the period of rapid physiological change in very early life. Similarly, investigators in the field of the social determinants of health and disease have concentrated their efforts on the effects of parenting and education in early childhood.
With the aim of developing our understanding of the place of adolescence in a life course framework, in May 2013, we organised a joint workshop between UCL and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
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