Behavioral and Emotional Dynamics of Two People Struggling to Reach Consensus about a Topic on Which They Disagree

We studied the behavioral and emotional dynamics displayed by two people trying to resolve a conflict. 59 groups of two people were asked to talk for 20 minutes to try to reach a consensus about a topic on which they disagreed. The topics were abortion, affirmative action, death penalty, and euthanasia. Behavior data were determined from audio recordings where each second of the conversation was assessed as proself, neutral, or prosocial. We determined the probability density function of the durations of time spent in each behavioral state. These durations were well fit by a stretched exponential distribution, with an exponent, , of approximately 0.3. This indicates that the switching between behavioral states is not a random Markov process, but one where the probability to switch behavioral states decreases with the time already spent in that behavioral state. The degree of this “memory” was stronger in those groups who did not reach a consensus and where the conflict grew more destructive than in those that did. Emotion data were measured by having each person listen to the audio recording and moving a computer mouse to recall their negative or positive emotional valence at each moment in the conversation. We used the Hurst rescaled range analysis and power spectrum to determine the correlations in the fluctuations of the emotional valence. The emotional valence was well described by a random walk whose increments were uncorrelated. Thus, the behavior data demonstrated a “memory” of the duration already spent in a behavioral state while the emotion data fluctuated as a random walk whose steps did not have a “memory” of previous steps. This work demonstrates that statistical analysis, more commonly used to analyze physical phenomena, can also shed interesting light on the dynamics of processes in social psychology and conflict management.     

Analysis of the expression of chicken and rat gene products in myoblast x myoblast cell hybrids

Hybrid cells were isolated by fusing primary chicken myoblasts to HPRT-deficient rat L6 myoblasts and incubating the cells in medium containing HAT and ouabain. All hybrid clones contained both rat and chicken chromosomes and expressed a number of gene products characteristic of both species. Although all clones were capable of fusing spontaneously to form myofibers, immunofluorescence and isoenzyme analysis revealed only the rat forms of skeletal muscle myosin and MM-creatine kinase. No differentiated gene products of chicken origin were detected. Analysis of the expression of chicken HPRT revealed that some hybrid clones were capable of modulating this enzyme activity when switched from HAT medium into thioguanine medium and back into HAT, even though HPRT is normally a constitutively expressed enzyme. Parental control cells were incapable of this modulation phenomenon.     

Fluorescence anisotropy from diphenylhexatriene in rat liver plasma membranes

Rat livers were fractionated to obtain intracellular membrane preparations and a highly purified preparation of bile canaliculi. The fraction containing bile canaliculi was homogenized and subfractionated to give fractions representing fragments of contiguous membrane and of canalicular microvilli. The relative purity and extent of contamination of each preparation was determined. When the fluorescent probe 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene was incorporated into aliquots of each fraction at the same probe: lipid ratio and the steady-state anisotropy of its fluorescence measured, it was found that the plasma membrane preparations were much more ordered than the intracellular membrane preparations. Of the plasma membrane preparations, that containing the canalicular microvilli was the most ordered, even allowing for any contribution of contaminants. Thus the microvillus membrane of the bile canaliculus appears to be the most ordered domain of the plasma membrane of the hepatocyte. The high order in this domain may be a factor in reducing the susceptibility to bile salt damage during bile secretion, since it is this region which is exposed to high concentrations of bile salts in vivo.     

Bacterial colonization and endotoxin content of a new renal dialysis water system composed of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene

We measured endotoxin and bacterial levels in tap water, in water purified by reverse osmosis, and in dialysate samples over a 4-month period in a new 10-bed renal dialysis unit. Water treated by reverse osmosis is conducted to the 10 stations through 111 m of piping composed of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). All determinations were made prior to the opening of the unit and after the system was purged for 35 h with all bedside station taps open. Formaldehyde disinfection of the piping system was attempted with a recommended protocol after 11 weeks by feeding 2.5 liters of 37% formaldehyde (0.85%, vol/vol) into the delivery system. Prior to water purging, 24 ng of endotoxin per ml was detected. This level decreased to 2.0 ng of endotoxin after the purging. Levels of endotoxin remained below 1.0 ng of endotoxin per ml throughout the duration of the study. In contrast, the level of viable microorganisms recovered from the treated water was approximately 3.5 X 10(4) CFU/100 ml. Even after disinfection of the system, there was no significant decrease in culturable bacteria from the water even though endotoxin levels were lower. Species isolated from the renal dialysis system were predominately pseudomonads, whereas species isolated from the tap water were Bacillus and Flavobacterium species. ABS provides a surface suitable for long-term colonization and growth of bacteria. Currently recommended decontamination protocols are ineffective in removing potentially pathogenic bacteria from ABS pipes and thus constitute an increased risk to patients undergoing dialysis.     

Ethanol-elicited alterations in the oligomycin sensitivity and structural stability of the mitochondrial F0 . F1 ATPase

Liver mitochondria from rats fed ethanol chronically demonstrated a 35% decrease in mitochondrial ATPase activity. Moreover, the ATPase activity was inhibited only 61% by addition of oligomycin. Treatment of mitochondria from ethanol-fed rats with the detergent, Lubrol-WX, caused the release of 36% of the F1 from the resulting inner membrane particles. In comparison, only 5% of the F1 was dissociated when control mitochondria were subjected to the Lubrol treatment. However, when the units of ATPase activity from the supernatant and particles obtained after Lubrol treatment were added together, their sums were equivalent in preparations from control and ethanol-fed animals. Moreover, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analyses indicated equal amounts of the alpha + beta subunits of F1 in mitochondria from control and ethanol-fed rats. Reconstitution experiments with urea particles and F1 prepared from both control and ethanol mitochondria revealed a decrease in oligomycin sensitivity which could be attributed to an alteration in the functioning of either the oligomycin sensitivity conferring protein or a membrane sector subunit that interacts with oligomycin. Analysis by reconstitution also demonstrated that there were no ethanol-elicited alterations in the properties of the F1 portion of the ATP synthase complex. These observations indicate that the activity of the ATP synthase complex is altered significantly by ethanol-elicited changes in the functioning of those polypeptides involved in modulating both oligomycin sensitivity and the association of F1 with membrane sector subunits.     

Short-term metabolic fate of [13N]ammonia in rat liver in vivo

The short-term metabolic fate of [13N]ammonia in the livers of adult male, anesthetized rats was determined. Following a bolus injection of tracer quantities of [13N]ammonia into the portal vein, the single pass extraction was approximately 93%, in good agreement with the portal-hepatic vein difference of approximately 90%. High performance liquid chromatographic analysis of deproteinized liver samples indicated that labeled nitrogen is exchanged rapidly among components of: mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase and glutamate dehydrogenase reactions and cytoplasmic aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase reactions (t1/2 for the exchange of label toward equilibrium is on the order of seconds). Comparison of specific activities of glutamate and ammonia suggests that at 5 s most labeled glutamate was mitochondrial, whereas at 60 s approximately 93% was cytosolic; this change is presumably brought about by the combined action of the mitochondrial and cytosolic aspartate aminotransferases and the aspartate carrier of the malate-aspartate shuttle. Specific activity measurements of glutamate, alanine, and aspartate are in accord with the proposal by Williamson et al. (Williamson, D.H., Lopes-Vieira, O., and Walker, B. (1967) Biochem. J. 104, 497-502) that the components of the aspartate aminotransferase reaction are in thermodynamic equilibrium, whereas the components of the alanine aminotransferase reaction are in equilibrium but compartmented in the rat liver. Despite considerable label in citrulline at early time points, no radioactivity (less than or equal to 0.25% of the total) was detected in carbamyl phosphate, suggesting very efficient conversion to citrulline with little free carbamyl phosphate accumulating in the mitochondria. Our data also show that some portal vein-derived ammonia is metabolized to glutamine in the rat liver, but the amount is small (approximately 7% of that metabolized to urea) in part because liver glutamine synthetase is located in a small population of perivenous cells "downstream" from the urea cycle-containing periportal cells. Finally, no tracer evidence could be found for the participation of the purine nucleotide cycle in ammonia production from aspartate. The present work continues to emphasize the usefulness of [13N]ammonia for short-term metabolic studies under truly tracer conditions, particularly when turnover times are on the order of seconds.     

Visualization of endocytosed markers in freeze-fracture studies of toad urinary bladder

Antidiuretic hormone (ADH) stimulation increases the apical membrane water permeability of granular cells in toad urinary bladder. This response correlates closely with the fusion of tubular cytoplasmic vesicles with the membrane and delivery of intramembrane particle (IMP) aggregates from the tubules (aggrephores) to the apical membrane. These aggregates are believed to be associated with the channels responsible for the water permeability increase. Removal of ADH triggers apical membrane endocytosis and disappearance of aggregates from the apical membrane. However, it has been unclear whether aggregate disappearance is due to disassembly of aggregates within the apical membrane or to their endocytic retrieval as intact structures. Using colloidal gold and horseradish peroxidase to follow endocytosis from the apical surface after ADH removal, we have directly observed in cross-fractured bladder cells the intramembrane structure of intracellular vesicles that contain these fluid-phase markers. Under these conditions, intact aggregates can be identified in the membrane of tubular endocytosed vesicles. This directly demonstrates that conditions which lower apical membrane water permeability cause the tubular aggrephores to "shuttle" intact aggregates from the apical membrane back into the cytoplasm. An additional population of vesicles with tracer are found which are spherical and display structural features of the apical membrane, as well as occasional aggregates. These vesicles may be responsible for retrieval of aggregates from the surface apical membrane.     

Ontogeny of microsomal activities of triacylglycerol synthesis in guinea pig liver

Because the onset of triacylglycerol-rich lipoprotein synthesis occurs in guinea pig liver during fetal life, we investigated the microsomal enzyme activities of triacylglycerol synthesis in fetal and postnatal guinea pig liver. Hepatic monoacylglycerol acyltransferase specific and total microsomal activities peaked by the 50th day of gestation and declined rapidly after birth to levels that were virtually unmeasurable in the adult. Peak fetal specific activity was more than 75-fold higher than observed in the adult. The specific activities of fatty acid CoA ligase and lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase increased 2- to 3-fold before birth; lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase increased a further 2.6-fold during the first week of life. Specific activities of phosphatidic acid phosphatase, microsomal glycerophosphate acyltransferase, and diacylglycerol acyltransferase varied minimally over the time course investigated. These data demonstrate that selective changes occur in guinea pig hepatic microsomal activities of triacylglycerol synthesis before birth. Because of an approximate 11-fold increase in hepatic microsomal protein between birth and the adult, however, major increases in total microsomal activity of all the triacylglycerol synthetic activities occurred after birth. The pattern of monoacylglycerol acyltransferase specific and total microsomal activities differs from that of the rat in occurring primarily during the last third of gestation instead of during the suckling period. This pattern provides evidence that hepatic monoacylglycerol acyltransferase activity probably does not function to acylate 2-monoacylglycerols derived from partial hydrolysis of diet-derived triacylglycerol.