Attributional perceptions of dating outcomes

Attributional responses made by undergraduate college students to interpersonal relationship outcomes were investigated to determine if the actor-observer effect exists in a similar manner for successful and unsuccessful dating situations, or if the effect is mediated by an egoserving bias tendency. Participants rated the influence of the Weinerian Factors of ability, effort, luck and task difficulty on successful and unsuccessful dating outcomes in terms of Self, an Other Male, or an Other Female. Participants attributed a significantly greater amount of internal responsibility to the others as compared to self for unsuccessful dating outcomes but not for successful outcomes. Additionally, participants, when responding to Self outcomes, were shown to take more responsibility for successful situations as compared to unsuccessful situations. This general pattern was extended to Other Female, but not to Other Male

Fluorescence in situ hybridization of YAC clones after Alu-PCR amplification

Alu-PCR protocols were optimized for the generation of human DNA probes from yeast strains containing yeast artificial chromosomes (YACs) with human inserts between 100 and 800 kb in size. The resulting DNA probes were used in chromosome in situ suppression (CISS) hybridization experiments. Strong fluorescent signals on both chromatids indicated the localization of specific YAC clones, while two clearly distinguishable signals were observed in ≥90% of diploid nuclei Signal intensities were generally comparable to those observed using chromosome-specific alphoid DNA probes. This approach will facilitate the rapid mapping of YAC clones and their use in chromosome analysis at all stages of the cell cycle

Metaphase and Interphase Cytogenetics with Alu-PCR-amplified Yeast Artificial Chromosome Clones Containing the BCR Gene and the Protooncogenes c-raf-1, c-fms, and c-erbB-21

A human yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) library was screened by polymerase chain reaction with oligonucleotide primers defined for DNA sequences of the BCR gene and the protooncogenes c-raf-1, c-fms, and c-erB-2. Alu-PCR-generated human DNA sequences were obtained from the respective YAC clones and used for fluorescence in situ hybridization experiments under suppression conditions. After chromosomal in situ suppression hybridization to GTG-banded human prometaphase chromosomes, seven of nine initially isolated YAC clones yielded strong signals exclusively in the chromosome bands containing the respective genes. Two clones yielded additional signals on other chromosomes and were excluded from further tests. The band-specific YACs were successfully applied to visualize specific structural chromosome aberrations in peripheral blood cells from patients with myelodysplasia exhibiting del(5)(q13q34), chronic myeloid leukemia and acute lymphocytic leukemia with t(9;22)(q34;q11), acute promyelocytic leukemia (M3) with t(15;17)(q22;q21), and in a cell line established from a proband with the constitutional translocation t(3;8)(p14.2;q24). In addition to the analysis of metaphase spreads, we demonstrate the particular usefulness of these YAC clones in combination with whole chromosome painting to analyze specific chromosome aberrations directly in the interphase nucleus

A Diagnostic System for Improving Biomass Quality Based on a Sensor Network

Losses during storage of biomass are the main parameter that defines the profitability of using preserved biomass as feed for animal husbandry. In order to minimize storage losses, potential changes in specific physicochemical properties must be identified to subsequently act as indicators of silage decomposition and form the basis for preventive measures. This study presents a framework for a diagnostic system capable of detecting potential changes in specific physicochemical properties, i.e., temperature and the oxygen content, during the biomass storage process. The diagnostic system comprises a monitoring tool based on a wireless sensors network and a prediction tool based on a validated computation fluid dynamics model. It is shown that the system can provide the manager (end-user) with continuously updated information about specific biomass quality parameters. The system encompasses graphical visualization of the information to the end-user as a first step and, as a second step, the system identifies alerts depicting real differences between actual and predicted values of the monitored properties. The perspective is that this diagnostic system will provide managers with a solid basis for necessary preventive measures

A common variant associated with dyslexia reduces expression of the KIAA0319 gene

This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust (MYD, SP, TSS, JCK, RWM, PC, SB, and APM), the Intramural Research Programs of the National Human Genome Research Institute (MYD and EDG) and National Cancer Institute (MPO), and the NIH/Ox-Cam Graduate Partnership Program (MYD).Numerous genetic association studies have implicated the KIAA0319 gene on human chromosome 6p22 in dyslexia susceptibility. The causative variant(s) remains unknown but may modulate gene expression, given that (1) a dyslexia-associated haplotype has been implicated in the reduced expression of KIAA0319, and (2) the strongest association has been found for the region spanning exon 1 of KIAA0319. Here, we test the hypothesis that variant(s) responsible for reduced KIAA0319 expression resides on the risk haplotype close to the gene's transcription start site. We identified seven single-nucleotide polymorphisms on the risk haplotype immediately upstream of KIAA0319 and determined that three of these are strongly associated with multiple reading-related traits. Using luciferase-expressing constructs containing the KIAA0319 upstream region, we characterized the minimal promoter and additional putative transcriptional regulator regions. This revealed that the minor allele of rs9461045, which shows the strongest association with dyslexia in our sample (max p-value = 0.0001), confers reduced luciferase expression in both neuronal and non-neuronal cell lines. Additionally, we found that the presence of this rs9461045 dyslexia-associated allele creates a nuclear protein-binding site, likely for the transcriptional silencer OCT-1. Knocking down OCT-1 expression in the neuronal cell line SHSY5Y using an siRNA restores KIAA0319 expression from the risk haplotype to nearly that seen from the non-risk haplotype. Our study thus pinpoints a common variant as altering the function of a dyslexia candidate gene and provides an illustrative example of the strategic approach needed to dissect the molecular basis of complex genetic traits.PostprintPeer reviewe

Biological Efficiency Differences Among \u3ci\u3eBos taurus\u3c/i\u3e x \u3ci\u3eBos taurus\u3c/i\u3e and \u3ci\u3eBos indicus\u3c/i\u3e x \u3ci\u3eBos taurus\u3c/i\u3e F\u3csub\u3e1\u3c/sub\u3e-Cross Cows

Matching germplasm to resources through designed crossbreeding programs can contribute to optimum beef production efficiency. This is particularly true in light of the wide diversity of environmental conditions encountered by beef producers in the U.S. This approach requires considerable knowledge about genetic diversity among breeds in components of performance and furthermore how those components interact to influence life-cycle efficiency in the production setting. It was largely this identified need, coupled with the importation of a number of new breeds from continental Europe, that gave impetus for the establishment of the Germplasm Evaluation (GPE) Program. In Cycles I and II of the GPE program, increases in cow output associated with higher breed potential for growth rate and milk production were largely offset by equivalent or greater increases in feed requirements for maintenance and lactation. Additionally, in Cycle III, output of calf weaned per cow in the breeding herd was high for Bos indicus x Bos taurus crosses relative to Bos taurus crosses. More information is needed to evaluate F1 cross of Bos taurus versus Bos indicus x Bos taurus sources of germplasm. Therefore, this study was conducted to: 1) estimate input/output components, and 2) estimate life-cycle efficiency of Cycle III breeds representing these types of F1 cross females

Contributors to the May Issue/Notes

Notes by William B. Lawless, Timothy M. Green, Thomas J. Mitchell, John D. Ryan, Charles Boynton, John R. Baty, and Theodore P. Frericks

Introducing the Medical Ethics Bowl

Although ethics is an essential component of undergraduate medical education, research suggests current medical ethics curricula face considerable challenges in improving students’ ethical reasoning. This paper discusses these challenges and introduces a promising new mode of graduate and professional ethics instruction for overcoming them. We begin by describing common ethics curricula, focusing in particular on established problems with current approaches. Next, we describe a novel method of ethics education and assessment for medical students that we have devised, the Medical Ethics Bowl. Finally, we suggest pedagogical advantages to MEBs when compared to other ethics curricula

What young people want from health-related online resources: a focus group study

The growth of the Internet as an information source about health, particularly amongst young people, is well established. The aim of this study was to explore young people's perceptions and experiences of engaging with health-related online content, particularly through social media websites. Between February and July 2011 nine focus groups were facilitated across Scotland with young people aged between 14 and 18 years. Health-related user-generated content seems to be appreciated by young people as a useful, if not always trustworthy, source of accounts of other people's experiences. The reliability and quality of both user-generated content and official factual content about health appear to be concerns for young people, and they employ specialised strategies for negotiating both areas of the online environment. Young people's engagement with health online is a dynamic area for research. Their perceptions and experiences of health-related content seem based on their wider familiarity with the online environment and, as the online environment develops, so too do young people's strategies and conventions for accessing it

Optical material anisotropy in high-index transition metal dichalcogenide Mie nanoresonators

Resonant optical antennas provide unprecedented opportunities to control light on length scales far below the diffraction limit. Recent studies have demonstrated that nanostructures made of multilayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) can exhibit well-defined and intense Mie resonances in the visible to the near-infrared spectral range. These resonances are realizable because the TMDC materials exhibit very high in-plane refractive indices, in fact higher than what is found in typical high-index dielectric materials like Si orGaAs. However, their out-of-plane refractive indices are comparatively low. Here we experimentally and theoretically investigate how this unusually large material anisotropy influences the optical response of individual TMDC nanoresonators made of MoS2. We find that anisotropy strongly affects the far-field optical response of the resonators, as well as complex interference effects, such as anapole and resonant Kerker conditions. Moreover, we show that it is possible to utilize the material anisotropy to probe the vectorial nature of the nanoresonator internal near fields. Specifically, we show that Raman spectra originating from individual MoS2 nanoresonators exhibit mode-specific anisotropic enhancement factors that vary with the nanoresonator size and correlate with specific modes supported at resonance. Our study indicates that exploring material anisotropy in novel high-index dielectrics may lead to new nanophotonic effects and applications. (C) 2020 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreemen