Don’t Objectify Me!: Sexual Self-Monitoring, Coping, and Psychological Maladjustment

Undergraduate college students (283 females, 127 males) completed surveys aimed at measuring positive sexual awareness vs. sexual self-monitoring, coping styles, and psychopathological symptoms. Positive sexual awareness significantly positively correlated with adaptive coping styles but did not otherwise correlate with psychopathological symptoms. Sexual self-monitoring was significantly positively correlated with somatization, depression-anxiety, and avoidant coping in women but not men. Bootstrapped mediation analyses indicated that the relationships between sexual self-monitoring and somatization, depression-anxiety, and eating disorder symptoms were significantly mediated by avoidant coping in women but not in men. These results were explained in terms of Objectification Theory, suggesting that women who experience sexual objectification are more likely to engage in avoidant coping, thus increasing their risk of developing psychopathology. Findings are discussed in terms of broader issues of the disempowering effects of objectification

In vitro nuclear interactome of the HIV-1 Tat protein

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>One facet of the complexity underlying the biology of HIV-1 resides not only in its limited number of viral proteins, but in the extensive repertoire of cellular proteins they interact with and their higher-order assembly. HIV-1 encodes the regulatory protein Tat (86–101aa), which is essential for HIV-1 replication and primarily orchestrates HIV-1 provirus transcriptional regulation. Previous studies have demonstrated that Tat function is highly dependent on specific interactions with a range of cellular proteins. However they can only partially account for the intricate molecular mechanisms underlying the dynamics of proviral gene expression. To obtain a comprehensive nuclear interaction map of Tat in T-cells, we have designed a proteomic strategy based on affinity chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our approach resulted in the identification of a total of 183 candidates as Tat nuclear partners, 90% of which have not been previously characterised. Subsequently we applied <it>in silico </it>analysis, to validate and characterise our dataset which revealed that the Tat nuclear interactome exhibits unique signature(s). First, motif composition analysis highlighted that our dataset is enriched for domains mediating protein, RNA and DNA interactions, and helicase and ATPase activities. Secondly, functional classification and network reconstruction clearly depicted Tat as a polyvalent protein adaptor and positioned Tat at the nexus of a densely interconnected interaction network involved in a range of biological processes which included gene expression regulation, RNA biogenesis, chromatin structure, chromosome organisation, DNA replication and nuclear architecture.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We have completed the <it>in vitro </it>Tat nuclear interactome and have highlighted its modular network properties and particularly those involved in the coordination of gene expression by Tat. Ultimately, the highly specialised set of molecular interactions identified will provide a framework to further advance our understanding of the mechanisms of HIV-1 proviral gene silencing and activation.</p

Circadian clock and vascular disease.

Cardiovascular functions, including blood pressure and vascular functions, show diurnal oscillation. Circadian variations have been clearly shown in the occurrence of cardiovascular events such as acute myocardial infarction. Circadian rhythm strongly influences human biology and pathology. The identification and characterization of mammalian clock genes revealed that they are expressed almost everywhere throughout the body in a circadian manner. In contrast to the central clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the clock in each tissue or cell is designated as a peripheral clock. It is now accepted that peripheral clocks have their own roles specific to each peripheral organ by regulating the expression of clock-controlled genes (CCGs), although the oscillation mechanisms of the peripheral clock are similar to that of the SCN. However, little was known about how the peripheral clock in the vasculature contributes to the process of cardiovascular disorders. The biological clock allows each organ or cell to anticipate and prepare for changes in external stimuli. Recent evidence obtained using genetically engineered mice with disrupted circadian rhythm showed a novel function of the internal clock in the pathogenesis of endothelial dysfunction, hypertension and hemostasis. Loss of synchronization between the central and peripheral clock also contributes to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases, as restoration of clock homeostasis could prevent disease progression. Identification of CCGs in each organ, as well as discovery of tools to manipulate the phase of each biological clock, will be of great help in establishing a novel chronotherapeutic approach to the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disorders

Associations of parental cognition, personality, and home environment with offspring cognition and personality

Typescript.Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1984.Bibliography: leaves [73]-81.Photocopy.Microfilm.v, 81 leaves, bound 29 cmThe purpose of the present analyses was to assess the separate, relative, and combined associations of relatively enduring familial influences--parental cognitive abilities and personality traits and aspects of the home environment as reported by parents--with offspring cognitive abilities and personality traits. Data was obtained from the Hawaii Family Study of Cognition (see DeFries et al., 1979; Wilson et al., 1975), in which members of 1816 intact nuclear families (both biological parents and at least one offspring 13 years of age or older) (6581 individuals) completed a battery of cognitive tests yielding a four-factor structure of specific cognitive abilities, as well as a measure of general intelligence. Parents also provided data on certain aspects of the shared (between-family, common to all offspring) home environment, including parental occupation and education, visitors to and relatives in the home, print media and television usage, and the presence of offspring prenatal and developmental problems within the family. A large subset of these families (1554 families (3402 individuals)) also completed a quick personality measure, the Adjective Check List (Gough &Heilbrun, 1965), which was rescored to yield seven personality factors. Data analyses presented herein were confined to families of Caucasian and Japanese ancestries to allow for cross-ethnic group comparisons of the associations between the variables within and across generations. Associations of cognitive abilities, personality factors, and home environment variables (parents only) were assessed within generations, since it could not be assumed that these variable domains were independent of each other or for parents, independent influences on offspring cognition and personality. Significant and consistent (across ethnic groups, generations, and sexes) correlations between certain cognitive abilities and personality traits were obtained. Parental cognitive abilities and personality traits were also found to be significantly and consistently related to parental occupation, education, and media usage. Across-generation correlations indicated that parental cognitive abilities, ACL intraception, occupation, education, and media usage were significantly related to offspring cognitive abilities, particularly verbal ability and general intelligence. Parental variables were found to be mostly inconsistently or not related to offspring ACL factors. The results of multiple regression analyses predicting offspring general intelligence from significantly related parental variables indicated that most of the variation in offspring intelligence was not accounted for by the combined influences of these shared familial (genetic and environmental) factors, while almost none of the variation in offspring personality was accounted for by these shared familial factors. These results were discussed in terms of the effects of measurement error, characteristics of the sample, non-inclusion of important home environment variables, and the influence of non-shared (within-family) familial factors on behavior development

Effects of Sex, Status, and Mating Cues on Expected Aggressive Responses

The effect of sex, status, and mating cues on expected aggression was examined via three scenario-based studies in which participants imagined themselves in a situation with a same-sex instigator of a provocation. Participants were randomly assigned to receive a scenario, which included one of two levels of status of instigator (high, low), one of two levels of attractiveness of the instigator (unattractive, attractive), and one of two levels of provocation (apology, insult). Sex and dispositional aggressivity were also included in a full factorial design. Based on evolutionary psychology ideas, we anticipated that status and attractiveness would differentially influence expected aggression for men vs. women. Participants in Experiment 1 were instructed to imagine that they were alone, whereas participants in Experiments 2 and 3 imagined themselves in a situation that included mating-related primes. in general expected aggression was greater for aggression-prone participants and under conditions of provocation and/or a high-status instigator. Experiments 2 and 3 found that, in the context of mate competition, sex differences in the effects of instigator provocation, status, and attractiveness emerged: greater aggressivity now only predicted more aggression for males but not females who were insulted; aggression was highest for females confronting an unattractive, high-status instigator and for males confronting an attractive, high-status instigator; females were more likely to aggress against a high-status instigator, regardless of being in a steady relationship or a first date situation, but males were only more likely to aggress against a high-status instigator in a first date situation

Gender and Sexual IdentityTranscending Feminist and Queer Theory /

XIII, 239 p.online resource