Showing 201 - 210 of 733 Items
Investigating the Role of Interpretation Bias in Mindfulness-Based Treatment of Adults With Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Date: 2020-02-11
Creator: Elizabeth A. Hoge, Hannah E. Reese, Isabelle A. Oliva, Caroline D. Gabriel, Brittany M., Guidos, Eric Bui, Naomi M. Simon, Mary Ann Dutton
Access: Open access
- Although mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have garnered empirical support for a wide range of psychological conditions, the psychological processes that mediate the relationship between MBIs and subsequent symptomatic improvement are less well-understood. In the present study we sought to examine, for the first time, the relationship between mindfulness, negative interpretation bias as measured by the homophone task, and anxiety among adults with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Forty-two individuals with GAD completed measures of mindfulness, interpretation bias, and anxiety before and after treatment with Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Contrary to prior research, we did not find evidence of an indirect relationship between baseline levels of mindfulness and anxiety via negative interpretation bias. MBSR did result in significant reductions in negative interpretation bias from baseline to post-treatment; however, we did not find evidence of an indirect relationship between changes in mindfulness and changes in anxiety via changes in interpretation bias. Taken together, these results provide minimal support for the hypothesized relationship between mindfulness, negative interpretation bias, and anxiety among adults with GAD. Limitations and specific suggestions for further inquiry are discussed.
Interest groups in electoral politics: 2012 in context
Date: 2012-12-01
Creator: Michael M. Franz
Access: Open access
- This paper compares the levels of ad spending from outside groups and traditional party organizations across seven federal election cycles. The data show clearly that outside groups advertised at historic levels in 2012. Such intense efforts send two important signals to students of American campaign finance. The first involves a crisis in the system of limited donations to candidates and party committees moving forward. The second resurrects an old debate in political science about whether parties or candidates should be the center of our electoral process. The paper concludes with a consideration of possible reforms that might help restore parties and candidates to the center of issue debates in competitive federal elections.
An isochromosome confers drug resistance in vivo by amplification of two genes, ERG11 and TAC1
Date: 2008-05-01
Creator: Anna Selmecki, Maryam Gerami-Nejad, Carsten Paulson, Anja Forche, Judith, Berman
Access: Open access
- Acquired azole resistance is a serious clinical problem that is often associated with the appearance of aneuploidy and, in particular, with the formation of an isochromosome [i(5L)] in the fungal opportunist Candida albicans. Here we exploited a series of isolates from an individual patient during the rapid acquisition of fluconazole resistance (FluR). Comparative genome hybridization arrays revealed that the presence of two extra copies of Chr5L, on the isochromosome, conferred increased FluR and that partial truncation of Chr5L reduced FluR. In vitro analysis of the strains by telomere-mediated truncations and by gene deletion assessed the contribution of all Chr5L genes and of four specific genes. Importantly, ERG11 (encoding the drug target) and a hyperactive allele of TAC1 (encoding a transcriptional regulator of drug efflux pumps) made independent, additive contributions to FluR in a gene copy number-dependent manner that was not different from the contributions of the entire Chr5L arm. Thus, the major mechanism by which i(5L) formation causes increased azole resistance is by amplifying two genes: ERG11 and TAC1. © 2008 The Authors.
Are melanized feather barbs stronger?
Date: 2004-01-01
Creator: Michael Butler, Amy S. Johnson
Access: Open access
- Melanin has been associated with increased resistance to abrasion, decreased wear and lowered barb breakage in feathers. But, this association was inferred without considering barb position along the rachis as a potentially confounding variable. We examined the cross-sectional area, breaking force, breaking stress, breaking strain and toughness of melanized and unmelanized barbs along the entire rachis of a primary feather from an osprey (Pandion haliaetus). Although breaking force was higher for melanized barbs, breaking stress (force divided by cross-sectional area) was greater for unmelanized barbs. But when position was considered, all mechanical differences between melanized and unmelanized barbs disappeared. Barb breaking stress, breaking strain and toughness decreased, and breaking stiffness increased, distally along the rachis. These proximal-distal material property changes are small and seem unlikely to affect flight performance of barbs. Our observations of barb bending, breaking and morphology, however, lead us to propose a design principle for barbs. We propose that, by being thicker-walled dorso-ventrally, the barb's flexural stiffness is increased during flight; but, by allowing for twisting when loaded with dangerously high forces, barbs firstly avoid failure by bending and secondly avoid complete failure by buckling rather than rupturing.
Linear relations between N ≥ 4 supergravity and subleading-color SYM amplitudes
Date: 2012-02-27
Creator: Stephen G. Naculich, Horatiu Nastase, Howard J. Schnitzer
Access: Open access
- The IR divergences of supergravity amplitudes are less severe than those of planar SYM amplitudes, and are comparable to those subleading-color SYM amplitudes that are most subleading in the 1/N expansion, namely O(1/ε L) for L-loop amplitudes. We derive linear relations between one- and two-loop four-point amplitudes and one-loop five-point amplitudes of N ≥ 4, 5, and 6 supergravity and the most-subleading-color contributions of the analogous amplitudes of N = 0, 1, and 2 SYM theory, extending earlier results for N = 8 supergravity amplitudes. Our work relies on linear relations between N = 4 supergravity and planar SYM amplitudes that were recently derived using the double-copy property of gravity, and color-kinematic duality of gauge theories. © SISSA 2012.
Evolution of the interaction between Hox genes and a downstream target
Date: 1998-05-07
Creator: Michael F. Palopoli, Nipam H. Patel
Access: Open access
- Segmental identifies along the insect body depend on the activities of Hox genes [1,2]. In Drosophila melanogaster, one well-studied Hox regulatory target is Distal-less (DII), which Is required for the development of distel limb structures [3]. In abdominal segments, DII transcription is prevented when Hox proteins of the Bithorax Complex (BX-C) bind to cis-regulatory elements upstream of the DII transcription start site [4,5]. Previous evolutionary comparisons of gene expression patterns suggest that this direct repression is conserved between Diptera and Lepidoptera, but is absent in the Crustacea [6,7]. We examined gene expression patterns in three orders of hexapods, all of which develop abdominal appendages, in order to determine when the strong repressive interaction between BX-C proteins and DII appeared during evolution. In each of the species examined, DII expression was initiated in abdominal cells despite the presence of high levels of BX-C proteins. It appears that the strong repressive effects of BX-C proteins on DII expression arose relatively late in insect evolution. We suggest that the regulatory interaction between the BX-C genes and DII has evolved within the hexapods in a complex, segment-specific manner.
Two databases derived from BGC-Argo float measurements for marine biogeochemical and bio-optical applications
Date: 2017-11-22
Creator: Emanuele Organelli, Marie Barbieux, Hervé Claustre, Catherine Schmechtig, Antoine, Poteau, Annick Bricaud, Emmanuel Boss, Nathan Briggs, Giorgio Dall'Olmo, Fabrizio D'Ortenzio, Edouard Leymarie, Antoine Mangin, Grigor Obolensky, Christophe Penkerc'H, Louis Prieur, Collin Roesler, Romain Serra, Julia Uitz, Xiaogang Xing
Access: Open access
- Since 2012, an array of 105 Biogeochemical-Argo (BGC-Argo) floats has been deployed across the world's oceans to assist in filling observational gaps that are required for characterizing open-ocean environments. Profiles of biogeochemical (chlorophyll and dissolved organic matter) and optical (single-wavelength particulate optical backscattering, downward irradiance at three wavelengths, and photosynthetically available radiation) variables are collected in the upper 1000 m every 1 to 10 days. The database of 9837 vertical profiles collected up to January 2016 is presented and its spatial and temporal coverage is discussed. Each variable is quality controlled with specifically developed procedures and its time series is quality-assessed to identify issues related to biofouling and/or instrument drift. A second database of 5748 profile-derived products within the first optical depth (i.e., the layer of interest for satellite remote sensing) is also presented and its spatiotemporal distribution discussed. This database, devoted to field and remote ocean color applications, includes diffuse attenuation coefficients for downward irradiance at three narrow wavebands and one broad waveband (photosynthetically available radiation), calibrated chlorophyll and fluorescent dissolved organic matter concentrations, and single-wavelength particulate optical backscattering. To demonstrate the applicability of these databases, data within the first optical depth are compared with previously established bio-optical models and used to validate remotely derived bio-optical products. The quality-controlled databases are publicly available from the SEANOE (SEA scieNtific Open data Edition) publisher at https://doi.org/10.17882/49388 and https://doi.org/10.17882/47142 for vertical profiles and products within the first optical depth, respectively.
A 350-year atmospheric history for carbonyl sulfide inferred from Antarctic firn air and air trapped in ice
Date: 2004-11-27
Creator: Stephen A. Montzka, M. Aydin, M. Battle, J. H. Butler, E. S., Saltzman, B. D. Hall, A. D. Clarke, D. Mondeel, J. W. Elkins
Access: Open access
- Carbonyl sulfide (COS) and other trace gases were measured in firn air collected near South Pole (89.98°S) and from air trapped in ice at Siple Dome, Antarctica (81.65°S). The results, when considered with ambient air data and previous ice core measurements, provide further evidence that atmospheric mixing ratios of COS over Antarctica between 1650 and 1850 A.D. were substantially lower than those observed today. Specifically, the results suggest annual mean COS mixing ratios between 300 and 400 pmol mol-1 (ppt) during 1650-1850 A.D. and increases throughout most of the twentieth century. Measurements of COS in modern air and in the upper layers of the firn at South Pole indicate ambient, annual mean mixing ratios between 480 and 490 ppt with substantial seasonal variations. Peak mixing ratios are observed during austral summer in ambient air at South Pole and Cape Grim, Tasmania (40.41°S). Provided COS is not produced or destroyed in firn, these results also suggest that atmospheric COS mixing ratios have decreased 60-90 ppt (10-16%) since the 1980s in high latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere. The history derived for atmospheric mixing ratios of COS in the Southern Hemisphere since 1850 is closely related to historical anthropogenic sulfur emissions. The fraction of anthropogenic sulfur emissions released as COS (directly or indirectly) needed to explain the secular changes in atmospheric COS over this period is 0.3-0.6%. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union.
Molecular, mass spectral, and physiological analyses of orcokinins and orcokinin precursor-related peptides in the lobster Homarus americanus and the crayfish Procambarus clarkii
Date: 2009-02-01
Creator: Patsy S. Dickinson, Elizabeth A. Stemmler, Elizabeth E. Barton, Christopher R. Cashman, Noah P., Gardner, Szymon Rus, Henry R. Brennan, Timothy S. McClintock, Andrew E. Christie
Access: Open access
- Recently, cDNAs encoding prepro-orcokinins were cloned from the crayfish Procambarus clarkii; these cDNAs encode multiple copies of four orcokinin isoforms as well as several other peptides. Using the translated open reading frames of the P. clarkii transcripts as queries, five ESTs encoding American lobster Homarus americanus orthologs were identified via BLAST analysis. From these clones, three cDNAs, each encoding one of two distinct prepro-hormones, were characterized. Predicted processing of the deduced prepro-hormones would generate 13 peptides, 12 of which are conserved between the 2 precursors: the orcokinins NFDEIDRSGFGFN (3 copies), NFDEIDRSGFGFH (2 copies) and NFDEIDRSGFGFV (2 copies), FDAFTTGFGHN (an orcomyotropin-related peptide), SSEDMDRLGFGFN, GDY(SO3)DVYPE, VYGPRDIANLY and SAE. Additionally, one of two longer peptides (GPIKVRFLSAIFIPIAAPARSSPQQDAAAGYTDGAPV or APARSSPQQDAAAGYTDGAPV) is predicted from each prepro-hormone. MALDI-FTMS analyses confirmed the presence of all predicted orcokinins, the orcomyotropin-related peptide, and three precursor-related peptides, SSEDMDRLGFGFN, GDYDVYPE (unsulfated) and VYGPRDIANLY, in H. americanus neural tissues. SAE and the longer, unshared peptides were not detected. Similar complements of peptides are predicted from P. clarkii transcripts; the majority of these were detected in its neural tissues with mass spectrometry. Truncated orcokinins not predicted from any precursor were also detected in both species. Consistent with previous studies in the crayfish Orconectes limosus, NFDEIDRSGFGFN increased mid-/hindgut motility in P. clarkii. Surprisingly, the same peptide, although native to H. americanus, did not affect gut motility in this species. Together, our results provide the framework for future investigations of the regulation and physiological function of orcokinins/orcokinin precursor-related peptides in astacideans. © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.