Intergroup helping in response to separatism

Despite its prevalence and widespread media coverage, separatism as a phenomenon is barely covered in psychological investigations, and the majority's response to separatism has been completely ignored. We present two studies in which we investigated the notion that separatist movements threaten the continuation of the national identity, as well as the nation's economic position. Moreover, we hypothesized and found that members of the majority group respond to continuation threat by supporting government measures to help the separatist group. Javanese students who were induced to believe that existing separatist movements in West Papua (Study 1, N = 322) or Aceh (Study 2, N = 180) were currently increasing their efforts to gain independence were more willing to support these groups than participants who believed these movements were dormant. Moreover, this effect was mediated by continuation threat but not economic threat. These results demonstrate the possibility of a peaceful response to separatism threat. © 2013 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc

Outgroup helping as a tool to communicate ingroup warmth

Item does not contain fulltextThe authors extend previous research on the effects of metastereotype activation on outgroup helping by examining in more detail the role of group impression management motives and by studying direct helping (i.e., helping the outgroup believed to hold a negative view of the ingroup). Data from three experiments provided full support for the communicative nature of direct outgroup helping by demonstrating that outgroup helping in response to a negative metastereotype was predicted by participants' concern for the image of their ingroup, but not by their self-image concerns. Moreover, group image concerns predicted outgroup helping but not ingroup helping and predicted outgroup helping only when a negative metastereotype was activated, compared with a positive metastereotype, or a (negative or positive) autostereotype. The results also ruled out an alternative explanation in terms of denying the self-relevance of the metastereotype.1 juni 201

Dispersal of aquatic and terrestrial organisms by waterbirds: A review of current knowledge and future priorities

1. We review progress in our understanding of the importance of waterbirds as dispersal vectors of other organisms, and identify priorities for further research. 2. Waterbirds are excellent for long-distance dispersal (LDD), whereas other vectors such as fish and mammals disperse similar propagules, but over shorter distances. Empirical studies of internal and external transport by waterbirds have shown that the former mechanism generally is more important. Internal transport is widely recognised for aquatic plants and aquatic invertebrates with resting eggs, but also is important for other organisms (e.g., terrestrial flowering plants not dispersed by frugivores, bryophytes, tardigrades, fish eggs). 3. Waterbird vectors also are important in terrestrial habitats, and provide connectivity across terrestrial–aquatic boundaries. There are important differences in the roles of different waterbird species, especially those using different habitats along the aquatic–terrestrial gradient. Early attempts to predict zoochory based on propagule morphology have been found wanting, and more research is needed into how the traits of vectors and vectored organisms (including life history, dormancy and growth traits) explain dispersal interactions. Experimental studies have focused on the potential of propagules to survive internal or external transport, and research into factors determining the establishment success of propagules after dispersal is lacking. 4. Recent spatially explicit models of seed dispersal by waterbirds should be expanded to include invertebrate dispersal, and to compare multiple bird species in the same landscape. Network approaches have been applied to plant–waterbird dispersal interactions, and these are needed for invertebrates. Genetic studies support effective LDD of plants and invertebrates along waterbird flyways, but there remains a lack of examples at a local scale. Next Generation Sequencing and genomics should be applied to waterbird-mediated dispersal across the landscape. More studies of biogeography, community ecology, or population genetics should integrate waterbird movements at the design stage. 5. Zoochory research has paid little attention to the dispersal of non-pathogenic microbes (both eukaryotic and prokaryotic). Nevertheless, there is evidence that dispersal via avian guts can be central to the connectivity of aquatic microbial metacommunities. More work on microbial dispersal by waterbirds should explore its implications for biogeochemistry, and the interchange with gut flora of other aquatic organisms. In the Anthropocene, the role of migratory waterbirds in LDD of plants and other organisms is particularly important, for example in compensating for loss of large migratory mammals and fish, allowing native species to adjust their distributions under global warming, and spreading alien species along flyways after their initial introductions by human vectors. Recent technological advances have opened exciting opportunities that should be fully exploited to further our understanding of dispersal by waterbirds.AJG was supported by projects from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (PID2020-112774GB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) and Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (CGL2016-76067-P). ESG received the grant RYC2019-027216-I funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and from ESF Investing in your future. GGS received a postdoctoral fellowship from CNPq (grant no. 150887/2022-1) ÁLK was supported by a János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, New National Excellence Programme of the Ministry of Innovation and Technology ÚNKP-21-5-DE-457, NKFIH FK-138698 grants

The effect of targeting Tie2 on hemorrhagic shock-induced renal perfusion disturbances in rats

Background: Hemorrhagic shock is associated with acute kidney injury and increased mortality. Targeting the endothelial angiopoietin/Tie2 system, which regulates endothelial permeability, previously reduced hemorrhagic shock-induced vascular leakage. We hypothesized that as a consequence of vascular leakage, renal perfusion and function is impaired and that activating Tie2 restores renal perfusion and function. Methods: Rats underwent 1 h of hemorrhagic shock and were treated with either vasculotide or PBS as control, followed by fluid resuscitation for 4 h. Microcirculatory perfusion was measured in the renal cortex and cremaster muscle using contrast echography and intravital microscopy, respectively. Changes in the angiopoietin/Tie2 system and renal injury markers were measured in plasma and on protein and mRNA level in renal tissue. Renal edema formation was determined by wet/dry weight ratios and renal structure by histological analysis. Results: Hemorrhagic shock significantly decreased renal perfusion (240 +/- 138 to 51 +/- 40, p 0.9 at all time points) or reduce renal injury (NGAL p = 0.26, KIM-1 p = 0.78, creatinine p > 0.9, renal edema p = 0.08), but temporarily improved cremaster perfusion at 3 h following start of fluid resuscitation compared to untreated rats (resuscitation + 3 h: 11 +/- 3 vs 8 +/- 3 perfused vessels, p < 0.05). Conclusion: Hemorrhagic shock-induced renal impairment cannot be restored by standard fluid resuscitation, nor by activation of Tie2. Future treatment strategies should focus on reducing angiopoietin-2 levels or on activating Tie2 via an alternative strategy

The added value of H-2 antagonists in premedication regimens during paclitaxel treatment

BACKGROUND: Ranitidine, a histamine 2 blocker, is the standard of care to prevent hypersensitivity reactions (HSRs) caused by paclitaxel infusion. However, the added value of ranitidine in this premedication regimen is controversial. Therefore, we compared the incidence of HSRs during paclitaxel treatment between a standard regimen including ranitidine and a regimen without ranitidine. METHODS: This prospective, pre-post interventional, non-inferiority study compared the standard premedication regimen (N = 183) with dexamethasone, clemastine and ranitidine with a premedication regimen without ranitidine (N = 183). The primary outcome was the incidence of HSR grade >= 3. Non-inferiority was determined by checking whether the upper bound of the twosided 90% confidence interval (CI) for the difference in HSR rates excluded the +6% non-inferiority margin. RESULTS: In both the pre-intervention (with ranitidine) and post-intervention (without ranitidine) group 183 patients were included. The incidence of HSR grade >= 3 was 4.4% (N = 8) in the pre-intervention group and 1.6% (N = 3) in the post-intervention group: difference -2.7% (90% CI: -6.2 to 0.1). CONCLUSIONS: As the upper boundary of the 90% CI does not exceed the predefined non-inferiority margin of +6%, it can be concluded that a premedication regimen without ranitidine is non-inferior to a premedication regimen with ranitidine

Functional mechanisms underlying pleiotropic risk alleles at the 19p13.1 breast-ovarian cancer susceptibility locus

A locus at 19p13 is associated with breast cancer (BC) and ovarian cancer (OC) risk. Here we analyse 438 SNPs in this region in 46,451 BC and 15,438 OC cases, 15,252 BRCA1 mutation carriers and 73,444 controls and identify 13 candidate causal SNPs associated with serous OC (P=9.2 × 10-20), ER-negative BC (P=1.1 × 10-13), BRCA1-associated BC (P=7.7 × 10-16) and triple negative BC (P-diff=2 × 10-5). Genotype-gene expression associations are identified for candidate target genes ANKLE1 (P=2 × 10-3) and ABHD8 (P<2 × 10-3). Chromosome conformation capture identifies interactions between four candidate SNPs and ABHD8, and luciferase assays indicate six risk alleles increased transactivation of the ADHD8 promoter. Targeted deletion of a region containing risk SNP rs56069439 in a putative enhancer induces ANKLE1 downregulation; and mRNA stability assays indicate functional effects for an ANKLE1 3′-UTR SNP. Altogether, these data suggest that multiple SNPs at 19p13 regulate ABHD8 and perhaps ANKLE1 expression, and indicate common mechanisms underlying breast and ovarian cancer risk

The OCT2/MATE1 Interaction Between Trifluridine, Metformin and Cimetidine:A Crossover Pharmacokinetic Study

Background and Objectives: Trifluridine/tipiracil, registered for the treatment of patients with metastatic gastric and colorectal cancer, is a substrate and inhibitor for the organic cation transporter 2 (OCT2) and the multidrug and toxin extrusion protein 1 (MATE1), which raises the potential for drug–drug interactions with other OCT2/MATE1 modulators. Therefore, we prospectively examined the effect of an OCT2/MATE1 inhibitor (cimetidine) and substrate (metformin) on the pharmacokinetics of trifluridine. Methods: In this three-phase crossover study, patients with metastatic colorectal or gastric cancer were sequentially treated with trifluridine/tipiracil alone (phase A), trifluridine/tipiracil concomitant with metformin (phase B) and trifluridine/tipiracil concomitant with cimetidine (phase C). The primary endpoint was the relative difference in exposure of trifluridine assessed by the area under the curve from timepoint zero to infinity. A &gt; 30% change in exposure was considered clinically relevant. A p-value of &lt; 0.025 was considered significant because of a Bonferroni correction. Results: Eighteen patients were included in the analysis. Metformin did not significantly alter the exposure to trifluridine (− 12.6%; 97.5% confidence interval − 25.0, 1.8; p = 0.045). Cimetidine did alter the exposure to trifluridine significantly (+ 18.0%; 97.5% confidence interval 4.5, 33.3; p = 0.004), but this increase did not meet our threshold for clinical relevance. Metformin trough concentrations were not influenced by trifluridine/tipiracil. Conclusions: Our result suggests that the OCT2/MATE1 modulators cimetidine and metformin can be co-administered with trifluridine/tipiracil without clinically relevant effects on drug exposure. Clinical Trial Registration: NL8067 (registered 04-10-2019).</p

Influence of green tea consumption on endoxifen steady-state concentration in breast cancer patients treated with tamoxifen

Background: Many cancer patients use additional herbs or supplements in combination with their anti-cancer therapy. Green tea—active ingredient epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG)—is one of the most commonly used dietary supplements among breast cancer patients. EGCG may alter the metabolism of tamoxifen. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the influence of green tea supplements on the pharmacokinetics of endoxifen; the most relevant active metabolite of tamoxifen. Methods: In this single-center, randomized cross-over trial, effects of green tea capsules on endoxifen levels were evaluated. Patients treated with tamoxifen for at least 3 months were eligible for this study. After inclusion, patients were consecutively treated with tamoxifen monotherapy for 28 days and in combination with green tea supplements (1 g twice daily; containing 300 mg EGCG) for 14 days (or vice versa). Blood samples were collected on the last day of monotherapy or combination therapy. Area under the curve (AUC0–24h), maximum concentration (Cmax) and minimum concentration (Ctrough) were obtained from individual plasma concentration–time curves. Results: No difference was found in geometric mean endoxifen AUC0–24h in the period with green tea versus tamoxifen monotherapy (− 0.4%; 95% CI − 8.6 to 8.5%; p = 0.92). Furthermore, no differences in Cmax (− 2.8%; − 10.6 to 5.6%; p = 0.47) nor Ctrough (1.2%; − 7.3 to 10.5%; p = 0.77) were found. Moreover, no severe toxicity was reported during the whole study period. Conclusions: This study demonstrated the absence of a pharmacokinetic interaction between green tea supplements and tamoxifen. Therefore, the use of green tea by patients with tamoxifen does not have to be discouraged