Am I More Upset When Close Others are Benefited? But What Does it Mean to Be "Close" to Another: Responses to Injustice as a Function of Proximity

Six studies were conducted to determine if, to what degree, and why distress occurs when a psychologically or a physically close, rather than distant, other is rewarded over oneself. It was hypothesized that increased proximity results in greater distress because we tend to see ourselves as similar to close others, particularly psychologically close others, and because proximity, either spatial or emotional, increases expectations of future interactions in which we will be reminded of the benefit to other. Three exploratory studies that manipulated physical and psychological closeness and three refined studies that included manipulations of similarity or future interactions revealed that benefits to another who is psychologically or physically proximal are equally distressing, but the mediators of distress differ. There are clear paths from perceived similarity to perceived injustice to distress when a psychologically close other is benefited relative to oneself. When a physically close other is benefited, distress is mediated by expected reminders of other's benefit rather than perceived similarity and perceived injustice

Staged storage and magma convection at Ambrym Volcano, Vanuatu

New mineral-melt thermobarometry and mineral chemistry data are presented for basaltic scoriae erupted from the Mbwelesu crater of Ambrym volcano, Vanuatu, during persistent lava lake activity in 2005 and 2007. These data reveal crystallisation conditions and enable the first detailed attempt at reconstruction of the central magma plumbing system of Ambrym volcano. Pressures and temperatures of magma crystallisation at Ambrym are poorly constrained. This study focuses on characterising the magma conditions underlying the quasipermanent lava lakes at the basaltic central vents, and examines petrological evidence for magma circulation. Mineral-melt equilibria for clinopyroxene, olivine and plagioclase allow estimation of pressures and temperatures of crystallisation, and reveal two major regions of crystallisation, at 24–29 km and 11–18 km depth, in agreement with indications from earthquake data of crustal storage levels at c.25–29 km and 12–21 km depth. Temperature estimates are ~1150–1170 ºC for the deeper region, and ~1110 1140 ºC in the midcrustal region, with lower temperatures of ~1090–1100 ºC for late-stage crystallisation. More primitive plagioclase antecrysts are thought to sample a slightly more mafic melt at sub-Moho depths. Resorption textures combined with effectively constant mafic mineral compositions suggest phenocryst convection in a storage region of consistent magma composition. In addition, basalt erupted at Ambrym has predominantly maintained a constant composition throughout the volcanic succession. This, coupled with recurrent periods of elevated central vent activity on the scale of months, suggest frequent magmatic recharge via steady-state melt generation at Ambrym

Low Mate Encounter Rate Increases Male Risk Taking in a Sexually Cannibalistic Praying Mantis

Male praying mantises are forced into the ultimate trade-off of mating versus complete loss of future reproduction if they fall prey to a female. The balance of this trade-off will depend both on (1) the level of predatory risk imposed by females and (2) the frequency of mating opportunities for males. We report the results of a set of experiments that examine the effects of these two variables on male risk-taking behavior and the frequency of sexual cannibalism in the praying mantis Tenodera sinensis. We experimentally altered the rate at which males encountered females and measured male approach and courtship behavior under conditions of high and low risk of being attacked by females. We show that male risk taking depends on prior access to females. Males with restricted access to females showed greater risk-taking behavior. When males were given daily female encounters, they responded to greater female-imposed risk by slowing their rate of approach and remained a greater distance from a potential mate. In contrast, males without recent access to mates were greater risk-takers; they approached females more rapidly and to closer proximity, regardless of risk. In a second experiment, we altered male encounter rate with females and measured rates of sexual cannibalism when paired with hungry or well-fed females. Greater risk-taking behavior by males with low mate encounter rates resulted in high rates of sexual cannibalism when these males were paired with hungry females

Indistinguishable Landscapes of Meiotic DNA Breaks in rad50+ and rad50S Strains of Fission Yeast Revealed by a Novel rad50+ Recombination Intermediate

The fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe Rec12 protein, the homolog of Spo11 in other organisms, initiates meiotic recombination by creating DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and becoming covalently linked to the DNA ends of the break. This protein–DNA linkage has previously been detected only in mutants such as rad50S in which break repair is impeded and DSBs accumulate. In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the DSB distribution in a rad50S mutant is markedly different from that in wild-type (RAD50) meiosis, and it was suggested that this might also be true for other organisms. Here, we show that we can detect Rec12-DNA linkages in Sc. pombe rad50+ cells, which are proficient for DSB repair. In contrast to the results from Sa. cerevisiae, genome-wide microarray analysis of Rec12-DNA reveals indistinguishable meiotic DSB distributions in rad50+ and rad50S strains of Sc. pombe. These results confirm our earlier findings describing the occurrence of widely spaced DSBs primarily in large intergenic regions of DNA and demonstrate the relevance and usefulness of fission yeast studies employing rad50S. We propose that the differential behavior of rad50S strains reflects a major difference in DSB regulation between the two species—specifically, the requirement for the Rad50-containing complex for DSB formation in budding yeast but not in fission yeast. Use of rad50S and related mutations may be a useful method for DSB analysis in other species

Tinkering with the C-Function: A Molecular Frame for the Selection of Double Flowers in Cultivated Roses

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Multiple Wnt/ß-Catenin Responsive Enhancers Align with the MYC Promoter through Long-Range Chromatin Loops

Inappropriate activation of c-Myc (MYC) gene expression by the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway is required for colorectal carcinogenesis. The elevated MYC levels in colon cancer cells are attributed in part to ß-catenin/TCF4 transcription complexes that are assembled at proximal Wnt/ß-catenin responsive enhancers (WREs). Recent studies suggest that additional WREs that control MYC expression reside far upstream of the MYC transcription start site. Here, I report the characterization of five novel WREs that localize to a region over 400 kb upstream from MYC. These WREs harbor nucleosomes with post-translational histone modifications that demarcate enhancer and gene promoter regions. Using quantitative chromatin conformation capture, I show that the distal WREs are aligned with the MYC promoter through large chromatin loops. The chromatin loops are not restricted to colon cancer cells, but are also found in kidney epithelial and lung fibroblast cell lines that lack de-regulated Wnt signaling and nuclear ß-catenin/TCF4 complexes. While each chromatin loop is detected in quiescent cells, the positioning of three of the five distal enhancers with the MYC promoter is induced by serum mitogens. These findings suggest that the architecture of the MYC promoter is comprised of distal elements that are juxtaposed through large chromatin loops and that ß-catenin/TCF4 complexes utilize this conformation to activate MYC expression in colon cancer cells