Appraisal patterns of envy and related emotions

Envy is a frustrating emotion that arises from upward social comparison. Two studies investigated the appraisals that distinguish benign envy (aimed at improving one’s own situation) from malicious envy (aimed at pulling down the superior other). Study 1 found that appraisals of deservingness and control potential differentiated both types of envy. We manipulated these appraisals in Study 2 and found that while both did not influence the intensity of envy, they did determine the type of envy that resulted. The more a situation was appraised as undeserved, the more participants experienced malicious envy. Benign envy was experienced more when the situation was not undeserved, and the most when the situation was appraised as both deserved and controllable. The current research also clarifies how the types of envy differ from the related emotions admiration and resentment

Appraisals, emotions and emotion regulation: An integrative approach

The present work aims to investigate the relation between appraisals, emotions, and emotion regulation strategies by creating a structural equation model which integrates these three aspects of the emotion process. To reach this aim, Italian students (N = 610) confronted with their high school diploma examination completed a questionnaire 3 weeks before the beginning of the exam. Results showed that they experienced primarily three types of emotions—anxiety/fear, frustration/powerlessness, positive emotions—which were related to specific appraisal profiles. Importantly, these appraisal profiles and emotions were associated with the use of different strategies for regulating emotions: anxiety/fear was associated with focusing on the exam, drug use, and an inability to distance oneself from the exam; frustration/powerlessness, with use of suppression, distancing, and drugs; positive emotion, with reappraisal and problem focused strategies. The effectiveness of these different strategies will be discussed

Release of oxidizing fluids in subduction zones recorded by iron isotope zonation in garnet

Subduction zones are key regions of chemical and mass transfer between the Earth’s surface and mantle. During subduction, oxidized material is carried into the mantle and large amounts of water are released due to the breakdown of hydrous minerals such as lawsonite. Dehydration accompanied by the release of oxidizing species may play a key role in controlling redox changes in the subducting slab and overlying mantle wedge. Here we present measurements of oxygen fugacity, using garnet–epidote oxybarometry, together with analyses of the stable iron isotope composition of zoned garnets from Sifnos, Greece. We find that the garnet interiors grew under relatively oxidized conditions whereas garnet rims record more reduced conditions. Garnet δ56Fe increases from core to rim as the system becomes more reduced. Thermodynamic analysis shows that this change from relatively oxidized to more reduced conditions occurred during lawsonite dehydration. We conclude that the garnets maintain a record of progressive dehydration and that the residual mineral assemblages within the slab became more reduced during progressive subduction-zone dehydration. This is consistent with the hypothesis that lawsonite dehydration accompanied by the release of oxidizing species, such as sulfate, plays an important and measurable role in the global redox budget and contributes to sub-arc mantle oxidation in subduction zones

Modularity in Protein Complex and Drug Interactions Reveals New Polypharmacological Properties

Recent studies have highlighted the importance of interconnectivity in a large range of molecular and human disease-related systems. Network medicine has emerged as a new paradigm to deal with complex diseases. Connections between protein complexes and key diseases have been suggested for decades. However, it was not until recently that protein complexes were identified and classified in sufficient amounts to carry out a large-scale analysis of the human protein complex system. We here present the first systematic and comprehensive set of relationships between protein complexes and associated drugs and analyzed their topological features. The network structure is characterized by a high modularity, both in the bipartite graph and in its projections, indicating that its topology is highly distinct from a random network and that it contains a rich and heterogeneous internal modular structure. To unravel the relationships between modules of protein complexes, drugs and diseases, we investigated in depth the origins of this modular structure in examples of particular diseases. This analysis unveils new associations between diseases and protein complexes and highlights the potential role of polypharmacological drugs, which target multiple cellular functions to combat complex diseases driven by gain-of-function mutations

Whipworm genome and dual-species transcriptome analyses provide molecular insights into an intimate host-parasite interaction.

Whipworms are common soil-transmitted helminths that cause debilitating chronic infections in man. These nematodes are only distantly related to Caenorhabditis elegans and have evolved to occupy an unusual niche, tunneling through epithelial cells of the large intestine. We report here the whole-genome sequences of the human-infective Trichuris trichiura and the mouse laboratory model Trichuris muris. On the basis of whole-transcriptome analyses, we identify many genes that are expressed in a sex- or life stage-specific manner and characterize the transcriptional landscape of a morphological region with unique biological adaptations, namely, bacillary band and stichosome, found only in whipworms and related parasites. Using RNA sequencing data from whipworm-infected mice, we describe the regulated T helper 1 (TH1)-like immune response of the chronically infected cecum in unprecedented detail. In silico screening identified numerous new potential drug targets against trichuriasis. Together, these genomes and associated functional data elucidate key aspects of the molecular host-parasite interactions that define chronic whipworm infection

Purinergic signalling and immune cells

This review article provides a historical perspective on the role of purinergic signalling in the regulation of various subsets of immune cells from early discoveries to current understanding. It is now recognised that adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) and other nucleotides are released from cells following stress or injury. They can act on virtually all subsets of immune cells through a spectrum of P2X ligand-gated ion channels and G protein-coupled P2Y receptors. Furthermore, ATP is rapidly degraded into adenosine by ectonucleotidases such as CD39 and CD73, and adenosine exerts additional regulatory effects through its own receptors. The resulting effect ranges from stimulation to tolerance depending on the amount and time courses of nucleotides released, and the balance between ATP and adenosine. This review identifies the various receptors involved in the different subsets of immune cells and their effects on the function of these cells

Holocene sea ice variability driven by wind and polynya efficiency in the Ross Sea

The causes of the recent increase in Antarctic sea ice extent, characterised by large regional contrasts and decadal variations, remain unclear. In the Ross Sea, where such a sea ice increase is reported, 50% of the sea ice is produced within wind-sustained latent-heat polynyas. Combining information from marine diatom records and sea salt sodium and water isotope ice core records, we here document contrasting patterns in sea ice variations between coastal and open sea areas in Western Ross Sea over the current interglacial period. Since about 3600 years before present, an increase in the efficiency of regional latent-heat polynyas resulted in more coastal sea ice, while sea ice extent decreased overall. These past changes coincide with remarkable optima or minima in the abundances of penguins, silverfish and seal remains, confirming the high sensitivity of marine ecosystems to environmental and especially coastal sea ice conditions