Palladin contributes to invasive motility in human breast cancer cells

SUMMARYCancer metastasis involves multiple steps including detachment of the metastatic cells from neighboring cells, the acquisition of motility and invasion to other tissue. All of these steps require the reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton. In this study, we found that the protein palladin, a molecular scaffold with an important function in actin organization, is expressed at higher overall levels in tumors compared to benign breast tissue, and also significantly higher in four invasive breast cancer cell lines when compared to four non-invasive cell lines. In addition, we found that palladin plays a key role in the formation of podosomes. Podosomes are actin-rich structures that function in adhesion and matrix degradation and have been found in many invasive cell types. Our results show that phorbol ester treatment stimulated the formation of palladin-containing podosomes in invasive, but not in non-invasive cell lines. More importantly, palladin knockdown resulted in decreased podosome formation and a significant reduction in transwell migration and invasive motility. Palladin overexpression induced podosome formation in the non-invasive MCF7 cells, which are otherwise unable to form podosomes, suggesting that palladin plays a critical role in the assembly of podosomes. Overall, these results indicate that palladin overexpression contributes to the invasive behavior of metastatic cells

EatWellNow: Formative Development of a Place-Based Behavioral “Nudge” Technology Intervention to Promote Healthier Food Purchases among Army Soldiers

Approximately 17% of military service members are obese. Research involving army soldiers suggests a lack of awareness of healthy foods on post. Innovative approaches are needed to change interactions with the military food environment. Two complementary technological methods to raise awareness are geofencing (deliver banner ads with website links) and Bluetooth beacons (real-time geotargeted messages to mobile phones that enter a designated space). There is little published literature regarding the feasibility of this approach to promote healthy behaviors in retail food environments. Thus, we conducted a formative feasibility study of a military post to understand the development, interest in, and implementation of EatWellNow, a multi-layered interactive food environment approach using contextual messaging to improve food purchasing decisions within the military food environment. We measured success based on outcomes of a formative evaluation, including process, resources, management, and scientific assessment. We also report data on interest in the approach from a Fort Bragg community health assessment survey (n = 3281). Most respondents agreed that they were interested in receiving push notifications on their phone about healthy options on post (64.5%) and that receiving these messages would help them eat healthier (68.3%). EatWellNow was successfully developed through cross-sector collaboration and was well received in this military environment, suggesting feasibility in this setting. Future work should examine the impact of EatWellNow on military service food purchases and dietary behaviors

Contemporary understanding of riots: classical crowd psychology, ideology and the social identity approach

This article explores the origins and ideology of classical crowd psychology, a body of theory reflected in contemporary popularised understandings such as of the 2011 English ‘riots’. This article argues that during the nineteenth century, the crowd came to symbolise a fear of ‘mass society’ and that ‘classical’ crowd psychology was a product of these fears. Classical crowd psychology pathologised, reified and decontextualised the crowd, offering the ruling elites a perceived opportunity to control it. We contend that classical theory misrepresents crowd psychology and survives in contemporary understanding because it is ideological. We conclude by discussing how classical theory has been supplanted in academic contexts by an identity-based crowd psychology that restores the meaning to crowd action, replaces it in its social context and in so doing transforms theoretical understanding of ‘riots’ and the nature of the self

A model of online protection to reduce children's online risk exposure: empirical evidence from Asia

Children are surrounded by a variety of digital media and are exposed to potential risks that come with such easy accessibility. Learning how to be safe online is an important consideration for both children and their caregivers. The present study proposes an integrated model of online safety based on constructs from protection motivation theory and the health belief model, namely perceived severity of (and susceptibility to) risk, online self-efficacy, online privacy concern, and digital literacy. The study comprised a survey conducted among 420 schoolchildren aged 9–16 years. Using partial least squares-structural equation modelling, the results illustrated the presence of a negative effect of ‘perceived severity of online risk’ toward online risks, whereas the effect of ‘digital literacy’ was found to be positive. Children whose perception of online risks was more severe were less exposed to online risks if they had higher ‘online privacy concerns’ than the children with higher ‘digital literacy’ who are more exposed to online risk. Results of the study show that engaging in safe online behaviour requires children to have a high perception regarding severity of online risks as well as knowledge of online privacy concerns. Online risks and opportunities occur in parallel. Consequently, the factors that increase or decrease risk may also increase or decrease the benefits

The Curse of Online Friends: The Detrimental Effects of Online Social Network Usage on Well-Being

In the pursuit of happiness, it has been conventionally accepted that more friends would bring us a better quality of life. However, with the advent of social networking sites, unprecedented social influence has pervaded our daily lives. Across two studies we show that even though people feel more satisfied with their lives when they view the friends added on Facebook, reading friends’ posts reduces their well-being. This is because the more friends people have on Facebook, the more ostentatious information they see. The resultant drop in life satisfaction occurs because people fail to draw a connection between the number of friends and the amount of ostentatious information. Moreover, this decrease in life satisfaction is mediated by envy. We contribute to the literature on consumer well-being by identifying a novel and ubiquitous phenomenon of making social comparisons with hundreds of people, a phenomenon that arose with the advent of social networking and was previously outside the scope of social comparison literature

Repeated Assessments of Informed Consent Comprehension among HIV-Infected Participants of a Three-Year Clinical Trial in Botswana

Informed consent (IC) has been an international standard for decades for the ethical conduct of clinical trials. Yet frequently study participants have incomplete understanding of key issues, a problem exacerbated by language barriers or lack of familiarity with research concepts. Few investigators measure participant comprehension of IC, while even fewer conduct interim assessments once a trial is underway.We assessed comprehension of IC using a 20-question true/false quiz administered in 6-month intervals in the context of a placebo-controlled, randomized trial for the prevention of tuberculosis among HIV-infected adults in Botswana (2004-2009). Quizzes were offered in both Setswana and English. To enroll in the TB trial, participants were required to have ≥ 16/20 correct responses. We examined concepts understood and the degree to which understanding changed over three-years. We analyzed 5,555 quizzes from 1,835 participants. The participants' highest education levels were: 28% primary, 59% secondary, 9% tertiary and 7% no formal education. Eighty percent of participants passed the enrollment quiz (Quiz1) on their first attempt and the remainder passed on their second attempt. Those having higher than primary education and those who took the quiz in English were more likely to receive a passing score on their first attempt (adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals, 3.1 (2.4-4.0) and 1.5 (1.2, 1.9), respectively). The trial's purpose or procedures were understood by 90-100% of participants, while 44-77% understood randomization, placebos, or risks. Participants who failed Quiz1 on their initial attempt were more likely to fail quizzes later in the trial. Pass rates improved with quiz re-administration in subsequent years.Administration of a comprehension quiz at enrollment and during follow-up was feasible in a large, international collaboration and efficiently determined IC comprehension by trial participants. Strategies to improve understanding of concepts like placebos and randomization are needed. Comprehension assessments throughout a study may reinforce key concepts

Smoke-free policies and non-smokers’ reactions to SHS exposure in small and medium enterprises

Introduction: Non-smoker employees can significantly improve the existing smoke-free policies in the workplace by asserting their right for smoke-free air and confronting smoker colleagues. The aim of the study was to assess the psychological and social drivers of non-smokers' readiness to assert their right for smoke-free air in the workplace. Materials and Methods: Twenty-six small-and-medium enterprises (SME) with diverse background were randomly selected, and 284 employees agreed to participate in the study. Our study focused on the responses of 85 non-smokers (M age = 34 years, SD = 7.98, 84.2% worked in indoor offices). A cross-sectional design was used and participants completed a structured anonymous questionnaire assessing background and demographic characteristics, and psychosocial predictors of assertiveness intentions. Results: Although more than half of non-smokers reported they were often/almost always bothered by exposure to SHS, roughly one third of them reported having asked their colleagues not to smoke at work. Regression analysis showed that the effects of distal predictors (i.e. annoyance due to SHS exposure) were mediated by past behaviour, attitudes (protection motivation beliefs), social norms, and self-efficacy. Conclusions: Health beliefs related to SHS exposure, and concerns about workplace health and job performance, social norms and self-efficacy can increase the assertiveness of non-smokers in workplace settings. Related campaigns should focus on communicating normative messages and self-efficacy training to empower non-smoker employees to act assertively towards protecting their smoke-free rights

The Antiquity and Evolutionary History of Social Behavior in Bees

A long-standing controversy in bee social evolution concerns whether highly eusocial behavior has evolved once or twice within the corbiculate Apidae. Corbiculate bees include the highly eusocial honey bees and stingless bees, the primitively eusocial bumble bees, and the predominantly solitary or communal orchid bees. Here we use a model-based approach to reconstruct the evolutionary history of eusociality and date the antiquity of eusocial behavior in apid bees, using a recent molecular phylogeny of the Apidae. We conclude that eusociality evolved once in the common ancestor of the corbiculate Apidae, advanced eusociality evolved independently in the honey and stingless bees, and that eusociality was lost in the orchid bees. Fossil-calibrated divergence time estimates reveal that eusociality first evolved at least 87 Mya (78 to 95 Mya) in the corbiculates, much earlier than in other groups of bees with less complex social behavior. These results provide a robust new evolutionary framework for studies of the organization and genetic basis of social behavior in honey bees and their relatives