The face is not an empty canvas: how facial expressions interact with facial appearance

Faces are not simply blank canvases upon which facial expressions write their emotional messages. In fact, facial appearance and facial movement are both important social signalling systems in their own right. We here provide multiple lines of evidence for the notion that the social signals derived from facial appearance on the one hand and facial movement on the other interact in a complex manner, sometimes reinforcing and sometimes contradicting one another. Faces provide information on who a person is. Sex, age, ethnicity, personality and other characteristics that can define a person and the social group the person belongs to can all be derived from the face alone. The present article argues that faces interact with the perception of emotion expressions because this information informs a decoder''s expectations regarding an expresser''s probable emotional reactions. Facial appearance also interacts more directly with the interpretation of facial movement because some of the features that are used to derive personality or sex information are also features that closely resemble certain emotional expressions, thereby enhancing or diluting the perceived strength of particular expressions.     

Evidence for adaptive design in human gaze preference

Many studies have investigated the physical cues that influence face preferences. By contrast, relatively few studies have investigated the effects of facial cues to the direction and valence of others' social interest (i.e. gaze direction and facial expressions) on face preferences. Here we found that participants demonstrated stronger preferences for direct gaze when judging the attractiveness of happy faces than that of disgusted faces, and that this effect of expression on the strength of attraction to direct gaze was particularly pronounced for judgements of opposite-sex faces (study 1). By contrast, no such opposite-sex bias in preferences for direct gaze was observed when participants judged the same faces for likeability (study 2). Collectively, these findings for a context-sensitive opposite-sex bias in preferences for perceiver-directed smiles, but not perceiver-directed disgust, suggest gaze preference functions, at least in part, to facilitate efficient allocation of mating effort, and evince adaptive design in the perceptual mechanisms that underpin face preferences.     

Effects of damping head movement and facial expression in dyadic conversation using real–time facial expression tracking and synthesized avatars

When people speak with one another, they tend to adapt their head movements and facial expressions in response to each others'' head movements and facial expressions. We present an experiment in which confederates'' head movements and facial expressions were motion tracked during videoconference conversations, an avatar face was reconstructed in real time, and naive participants spoke with the avatar face. No naive participant guessed that the computer generated face was not video. Confederates'' facial expressions, vocal inflections and head movements were attenuated at 1 min intervals in a fully crossed experimental design. Attenuated head movements led to increased head nods and lateral head turns, and attenuated facial expressions led to increased head nodding in both naive participants and confederates. Together, these results are consistent with a hypothesis that the dynamics of head movements in dyadicconversation include a shared equilibrium. Although both conversational partners were blind to the manipulation, when apparent head movement of one conversant was attenuated, both partners responded by increasing the velocity of their head movements.     

Machine analysis of facial behaviour: naturalistic and dynamic behaviour

This article introduces recent advances in the machine analysis of facial expressions. It describes the problem space, surveys the problem domain and examines the state of the art. Two recent research topics are discussed with particular attention: analysis of facial dynamics and analysis of naturalistic (spontaneously displayed) facial behaviour. Scientific and engineering challenges in the field in general, and in these specific subproblem areas in particular, are discussed and recommendations for accomplishing a better facial expression measurement technology are outlined.     

Ecology and speciation

Recent studies on diverse taxa suggest that natural selection caused by shifts in ecology or invasions of novel habitats plays an important role in adaptive divergence and speciation. Exciting new studies integrating approaches from both the field and the laboratory suggest that ecological shifts can result in extremely rapid rates of evolutionary divergence. Although experimental approaches that link rapid ecological divergence to reproductive isolation and speciation are in their infancy, recent research indicates those approaches that will be most useful.     

基因表达差异显示分析技术在创伤研究中的应用

基因是细胞增殖,分化,成熟等各项生命活动的调控中心,也是许多痢疾发生,发展和转归的决定性因素。基因表达的变化必然导致细胞,组织,器官乃至整个机体的各种异常。包括创伤在内的各种内外刺激,都可不同程度地引起基因表达的变化,最终妨碍机体健康。随着生物信息学的逐渐兴起和分子生物学的不断发展并向其他学科的逐渐渗透,业已建立起一系列研究基因表达变化的切实可行的技术手段（即“基因表达差异分析技术”,如DNA微阵列）,对捕获基因表达的种种变化具有重要价值。这些技术已经在肿瘤及其他疾病的研究中得到广泛应用,近几年也逐渐进入创伤研究领域,在一定程度上推动了创伤研究的发展。     

A型肉毒毒素注射影响情绪加工的认知神经机制

A型肉毒毒素（简称肉毒素）可引起可逆的局部肌肉麻痹,注射于特定面部肌肉可影响个体的情绪体验,还会干扰个体对情绪性材料（面部表情、语言文字和视频）中情绪信息的加工。认知神经科学研究发现,注射肉毒素会影响杏仁核的激活,影响奖赏系统的功能,以及其他大脑皮层的认知神经功能。面部反馈假说和社会反馈假说分别从个体与社会层面对肉毒素的作用加以解释：注射肉毒素使被注射者的肌肉反馈减少,弱化相应情绪的体验和加工;人际交往中,面部模仿使观察者的情绪体验与被注射者趋同,反过来同样影响被注射者的情绪体验。基于已有研究,本文提出面部反馈与社会反馈的整合模型对注射肉毒素影响情绪加工的认知神经机制进行系统阐释。未来研究可拓展相关的研究范式和方法,关注肉毒素注射对不同层面和水平的情绪加工的影响,及其相应的认知神经机制,进一步明确面部反馈与社会反馈的相互作用,并且考察肉毒素用于抑郁症等心理疾病治疗的作用机制。     

Children,but not chimpanzees,have facial correlates of determination

Facial expressions have long been proposed to be important agents in forming and maintaining cooperative interactions in social groups. Human beings are inordinately cooperative when compared with their closest-living relatives, the great apes, and hence one might expect species differences in facial expressivity in contexts in which cooperation could be advantageous. Here, human children and chimpanzees were given an identical task designed to induce an element of frustration (it was impossible to solve). In children, but not chimpanzees, facial expressions associated with effort and determination positively correlated with persistence at the task. By contrast, bodily indicators of stress (self-directed behaviour) negatively correlated with task persistence in chimpanzees. Thus, children exhibited more behaviour as they persisted, and chimpanzees exhibited less. The facial expressions produced by children, could, therefore, function to solicit prosocial assistance from others.     

差异显示技术及其研究进展

差异显示技术是分离差异表达基因的重要方法与手段,同其它研究基因差异表达的方法如RDA,SSH,SAGE相比,差异显示技术是其中使用频率较高的方法。该技术自1992年创立以来,经过各国研究者不断完善与改进,现已大大克服以往诸多不足,扩大了应用领域。本文就差异显示技术的原理及主要优缺点作以简要概述,并着重就引物设计、降低假阳性、鉴定差异表达基因及差异显示技术的衍生技术这4个方面的研究进展作以详尽介绍。     

Identification of tissue-specific DNA-protein binding sites by means of two-dimensional electrophoretic mobility shift assay display

We developed a technique of differential electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) display allowing identification of tissue-specific protein-binding sites within long genomic sequences. Using this approach, we identified 10 cell type-specific protein-binding sites (protein target sites [PTSs]) within a 137-kb human chromosome 19 region. In general, tissue-specific binding of proteins from different nuclear extracts by individual PTSs did not follow the all-or-nothing principle. Most often, PTS-protein complexes were formed in all cases, but they were different for different nuclear extracts used.     

Zif268的锌指DNA结合区在大肠杆菌中的功能性表达

锌指蛋白是最大的蛋白家族,是识别核酸最常见的、最有效的结构元件。通过选择合适的表达载体及诱导表达条件,实现了小鼠转录因子Zif268的锌指DNA结合区在大肠杆菌中的部分可溶性表达。凝胶迁移率移动试验证实纯化的可溶部分锌指DNA结合区可以特异性识别、结合其天然靶序列,提示锌指DNA结合区在大肠杆菌中得到了功能性表达。锌指DNA结合区在大肠杆菌中的功能性表达成功为锌指蛋白DNA相互作用的胞内遗传筛选模型的建立奠定了基础。     

Differential display: Identifying genes involved in cardiomyocyte proliferation

An estimated 15,000 different mRNA species are expressed in a typical mammalian cell. The differential expression of mRNAs in both a temporal and cell-specific manner determines the fate of the cell and creates the organism. Analysis of this differential gene expression has become a central aim of many laboratories attempting to understand the mechanisms underlying various biological processes. Currently, we are using a technique called differential display to analyze the differential expression of genes in cardiomyocytes. Differential display is a rapid and powerful technique that was introduced by Liang and Pardee in 1992. Since that time, it has been successfully applied by several groups, and it is quickly becoming a standard method for studying differential gene expression. Here, we present a detailed article discussing the differential display methodology and how we have utilized it to identify potential genes involved in cardiomyocyte proliferation. Furthermore, we have provided a list of materials and supplied examples of data obtained, in an effort to allow the reader to perform the technique with success in their own laboratory.     

乳酸乳球菌表面展示表达系统的构建及其鉴定

目的:旨在构建一个将抗原靶向于乳酸乳球菌细胞表面的表达系统。方法:运用PCR技术从金黄色葡萄球菌基因组中克隆出蛋白A(SPA)C-末端544个碱基对的锚定域序列(Spax)。通过酶切、连接将Spax构建入分泌型质粒pAMJ399形成携有整合外源基因位点BglⅡ的pAMJ400质粒。将报告蛋白—绿色荧光蛋白的基因(Gfp)插入载体pAMJ400的整合位点产生模式质粒pAMJ401并电转化其于乳酸乳球菌MG1363。绘制转化子MG1363(pAMJ401)生长曲线确认诱导期。调节pH值(6.0~6.5)诱导转化子并在荧光显微镜下观察杂合蛋白(GFP:SPAX)的表达情况。结果:在395nm的蓝色激发光下,诱导后的细菌发出较明亮的绿色荧光,而未诱导的细菌几乎不产生荧光。结论:成功地构建了乳酸乳球菌表面展示表达系统,此系统可以作为口服活菌疫菌研究的可行性操作平台。