Physiological Responses and Partisan Bias: Beyond Self-Reported Measures of Party Identification

People are biased partisans: they tend to agree with policies from political parties they identify with, independent of policy content. Here, we investigate how physiological reactions to political parties shape bias. Using changes in galvanic skin conductance responses to the visual presentation of party logos, we obtained an implicit and physiological measure of the affective arousal associated with political parties. Subsequently, we exposed subjects to classical party cue experiments where the party sponsors of specific policies were experimentally varied. We found that partisan bias only obtains among those exhibiting a strong physiological reaction to the party source; being a self-reported party identifier is not sufficient on its own. This suggests that partisan bias is rooted in implicit, affective reactions.     

The influence of age and sex on phagocyte chemiluminescence

The process of ageing is associated with increased susceptibility to infection. Phagocytes form the primary defence mechanism against infecting microorganisms, but the influence of ageing on phagocyte function remains controversial. In this study we have applied a microtitre plate phagocyte chemiluminescence (CL) assay suitable for clinical use to compare phagocyte oxidative metabolism in younger healthy subjects (age 20–60 years) and healthy older (60–70 years) subjects. Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNL) and monocytes were stimulated using phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), serum opsonized zymosan (SOZ), and non-opsonized zymosan (ZYM) in the presence of both lucigenin and luminol. Monocytes showed a higher luminolenhanced CL response to PMA in males compared with females in the younger age group. No PMNL differences were observed between the sexes. Although no difference were found in relation to age when cells were stimulated with PMA and SOZ, significantly lower background (unstimulated) CL was obtained from PMNL with luminol. PMNL luminol-enhanced CL responses were also lower in response to ZYM. The findings suggest a reduced response of PMNL from older subjects to minimal stimulation. This could be related to abnormalities in the triggering of the respiratory burst or myeloperoxidase release due to ageing. The influence of age and sex should be taken into account in clinical studies of phagocyte CL.     

Mitosis

Within the last decade, the study of mitosis has evolved into a multidisciplinary science in which findings from fields as diverse as chromosome biology and cytoskeletal architecture have converged to present a more cohesive understanding of the complex events that occur when cells divide. The largest strides have been made in the identification and characterization of regulatory enzymes (kinases and phosphatases) that modulate mitotic activity, as well as a number of the proteins and structural components (spindle, chromosomes, nuclear envelope) which carry out the mitotic instructions. One emerging theme appears to be that molecular signalling, which can involve modification of components (such as phosphorylation) or even their specific destruction, monitors the state of the mitotic cell at all stages. One of the major challenges for the future will be the identification of addititonal targets of the signalling machinery, as well as new regulatory components and their targets on the chromosomes, on the spindle, and at the cleavage furrow.     

B cell genomics behind cross-neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 variants and SARS-CoV

1. Download : Download high-res image (219KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

     

Correction to: In vitro cellular and proteome assays identify Wnt pathway and CDKN2A-regulated senescence affected in mesenchymal stem cells from mice after a chronic LD gamma irradiation in utero

Radiation and Environmental Biophysics -     

Single-cell genomics shedding light on marine Thaumarchaeota diversification

Previous studies based on analysis of amoA, 16S ribosomal RNA or accA gene sequences have established that marine Thaumarchaeota fall into two phylogenetically distinct groups corresponding to shallow- and deep-water clades, but it is not clear how water depth interacts with other environmental factors, including light, temperature and location, to affect this pattern of diversification. Earlier studies focused on single-gene distributions were not able to link phylogenetic structure to other aspects of functional adaptation. Here, we analyzed the genome content of 46 uncultivated single Thaumarchaeota cells sampled from epi- and mesopelagic waters of subtropical, temperate and polar oceans. Phylogenomic analysis showed that populations diverged by depth, as expected, and that mesopelagic populations from different locations were well mixed. Functional analysis showed that some traits, including putative DNA photolyase and catalase genes that may be related to adaptive mechanisms to reduce light-induced damage, were found exclusively in members of the epipelagic clade. Our analysis of partial genomes has thus confirmed the depth differentiation of Thaumarchaeota populations observed previously, consistent with the distribution of putative mechanisms to reduce light-induced damage in shallow- and deep-water populations.