Action and emotion recognition from point light displays: an investigation of gender differences

Folk psychology advocates the existence of gender differences in socio-cognitive functions such as 'reading' the mental states of others or discerning subtle differences in body-language. A female advantage has been demonstrated for emotion recognition from facial expressions, but virtually nothing is known about gender differences in recognizing bodily stimuli or body language. The aim of the present study was to investigate potential gender differences in a series of tasks, involving the recognition of distinct features from point light displays (PLDs) depicting bodily movements of a male and female actor. Although recognition scores were considerably high at the overall group level, female participants were more accurate than males in recognizing the depicted actions from PLDs. Response times were significantly higher for males compared to females on PLD recognition tasks involving (i) the general recognition of 'biological motion' versus 'non-biological' (or 'scrambled' motion); or (ii) the recognition of the 'emotional state' of the PLD-figures. No gender differences were revealed for a control test (involving the identification of a color change in one of the dots) and for recognizing the gender of the PLD-figure. In addition, previous findings of a female advantage on a facial emotion recognition test (the 'Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test' (Baron-Cohen, 2001)) were replicated in this study. Interestingly, a strong correlation was revealed between emotion recognition from bodily PLDs versus facial cues. This relationship indicates that inter-individual or gender-dependent differences in recognizing emotions are relatively generalized across facial and bodily emotion perception. Moreover, the tight correlation between a subject's ability to discern subtle emotional cues from PLDs and the subject's ability to basically discriminate biological from non-biological motion provides indications that differences in emotion recognition may - at least to some degree - be related to more basic differences in processing biological motion per se.     

Rapid extraction of plasmids from Clostridium perfringens

Two rapid methods were evaluated for their extraction of plasmids from Clostridium perfringens. The first method involved lysis of 1 to 2 ml of C. perfringens culture by treatment with hyaluronidase, lysozyme, and sarcosyl. DNA, extracted with phenol-chloroform, was treated with RNase, boiled, and electrophoresed in a 1.2% agarose gel. The second method involved lysis of 2 ml of culture by lysozyme treatment and extraction with alkaline sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Extracted DNA was treated with RNase, boiled, and electrophoresed in a 0.7% agarose gel. Of 57 strains of C. perfringens analyzed by both extraction procedures, 11 were shown to have plasmids by the alkaline SDS method which were missed by the phenol-chloroform extraction method. These new plasmids were of higher molecular mass and ranged up to 68 megadaltons. Use of the DNase inhibitor diethyl pyrocarbonate did not further improve the yield of plasmid DNA. An additional 159 isolates of C. perfringens screened by the alkaline SDS method revealed plasmids up to 80 megadaltons in mass and an overall plasmid carriage rate of 69%.     

Rapid extraction of phycobiliproteins from cultured cyanobacteria samples

Cyanobacteria are a valuable and ubiquitous component of marine picophytoplankton that contribute significantly to total carbon biomass and primary productivity of the oceans. They contain water soluble, natively highly fluorescent proteins, phycobiliproteins, that can be considered ideal marker pigments for understanding the distribution and trophic dynamics of picoplankton populations. However, there is no standard protocol for extracting and quantitating these proteins from cyanobacterial cells. Ideally, the cells would be disrupted quickly and efficiently with complete extraction and recovery of the released proteins. For that purpose, we describe a method for extracting phycobiliproteins from a Synechococcus CCMP 833 cyanobacteria culture that utilizes 3% 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethyammonio]propanesulfonic acid (Chaps) 0.3% asolectin combined with nitrogen cavitation. Extraction efficiencies of greater than 85% were achieved by this method, which requires less than 3h. The analysis of the extracted samples was carried out by capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection.     

Rapid extraction of plasmids from Clostridium perfringens.

Two rapid methods were evaluated for their extraction of plasmids from Clostridium perfringens. The first method involved lysis of 1 to 2 ml of C. perfringens culture by treatment with hyaluronidase, lysozyme, and sarcosyl. DNA, extracted with phenol-chloroform, was treated with RNase, boiled, and electrophoresed in a 1.2% agarose gel. The second method involved lysis of 2 ml of culture by lysozyme treatment and extraction with alkaline sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Extracted DNA was treated with RNase, boiled, and electrophoresed in a 0.7% agarose gel. Of 57 strains of C. perfringens analyzed by both extraction procedures, 11 were shown to have plasmids by the alkaline SDS method which were missed by the phenol-chloroform extraction method. These new plasmids were of higher molecular mass and ranged up to 68 megadaltons. Use of the DNase inhibitor diethyl pyrocarbonate did not further improve the yield of plasmid DNA. An additional 159 isolates of C. perfringens screened by the alkaline SDS method revealed plasmids up to 80 megadaltons in mass and an overall plasmid carriage rate of 69%.     

Female and male responses to cuteness,age and emotion in infant faces

Neonatal features in the newborn are thought to trigger parental care, the most fundamental prosocial behaviour. The underlying mechanisms that release parental care have not yet been resolved. Here we report sex differences in the ability to discriminate cues to cuteness despite equivalence in the capability to discriminate age and facial expression. These differences become apparent in a task where adults were asked to choose the cuter of two babies. While women could reliably choose the cuter infant, men had more difficulty in doing so. When showing the exact same face pairs but asking to choose the younger or the happier baby, there was no sex difference. These results suggest that the sex difference in the ability to discriminate cues to cuteness in infants underlies female-specific emotive responses. We argue that this reactivity expressed by women evolved to ensure that a female allocates her caretaking resources to her youngest offspring while it needs mothering care.     

Rapid method for mean telomere length measurement directly from cell lysates

Telomere length is involved in cell survival, tumorigenesis, and early aging. We present here an innovative method to determine the mean telomere length without any DNA purification. Our strategy is to measure both the DNA concentration and the number of telomeric units (TTAGGG) directly from cell lysate produced by the combined action of NaOH (pH>13) and sonication directly on cell pellet. Telomere units are quantified using an enzyme hybridization assay on 96-well microtiter plates grafted with a captor sequence. A biotin-coupled-tracer oligonucleotide hybridizes with telomere fragments and the enzymatic reaction is performed with a streptavidin-acetylcholinesterase conjugate, using the colorimetric method of Ellman. OD measure is directly proportional to the number of telomere units in cell lysate. This scalable technique allows the determination of mean telomere length simultaneously in many samples. This assay will be highly efficient to screen new drugs involved in chemotherapy targeting telomerase or directly telomeres.     

Rapid extraction and kinetic analysis of protein complexes from single cells

Proteins contribute to cell biology by forming dynamic, regulated interactions, and measuring these interactions is a foundational approach in biochemistry. We present a rapid, quantitative in vivo assay for protein-protein interactions, based on optical cell lysis followed by time-resolved single-molecule analysis of protein complex binding to an antibody-coated substrate. We show that our approach has better reproducibility, higher dynamic range, and lower background than previous single-molecule pull-down assays. Furthermore, we demonstrate that by monitoring cellular protein complexes over time after cell lysis, we can measure the dissociation rate constant of a cellular protein complex, providing information about binding affinity and kinetics. Our dynamic single-cell, single-molecule pull-down method thus approaches the biochemical precision that is often sought from in vitro assays while being applicable to native protein complexes isolated from single cells in vivo.     

Rapid prediction of multi-dimensional NMR data sets

We present a computational environment for Fast Analysis of multidimensional NMR DAta Sets (FANDAS) that allows assembling multidimensional data sets from a variety of input parameters and facilitates comparing and modifying such ??in silico?? data sets during the various stages of the NMR data analysis. The input parameters can vary from (partial) NMR assignments directly obtained from experiments to values retrieved from in silico prediction programs. The resulting predicted data sets enable a rapid evaluation of sample labeling in light of spectral resolution and structural content, using standard NMR software such as Sparky. In addition, direct comparison to experimental data sets can be used to validate NMR assignments, distinguish different molecular components, refine structural models or other parameters derived from NMR data. The method is demonstrated in the context of solid-state NMR data obtained for the cyclic nucleotide binding domain of a bacterial cyclic nucleotide-gated channel and on membrane-embedded sensory rhodopsin II. FANDAS is freely available as web portal under WeNMR (http://www.wenmr.eu/services/FANDAS).     

Rapid initial clustering of large data sets

Summary Multivariate analysis of plant community data has three goals: summarization of redundancy, identification of outliers, and elueidation of relationships. The first two are handled conveniently by initial fast clustering, and the third by subsequent ordination and hierarchical clustering, and perhaps table arrangement.Initial clustering algorithms should achieve withincluster homogeneity and require minimal computer resources. However, algorithmic uniqueness and a hierarchy are not needed. Computing time should be proportional to the amount of data, with no higher dependencies on the number of samples. A method is presented here meeting these requirements, called composite clustering and implemented in a FORTRAN program called COMPCLUS. The computer time required for COMPCLUS clustering is on the order of the time required merely to read the data, regardless of the number of samples.Several large field data sets were analyzed effectively by using COMPCLUS to reduce redundancy and identify outliers, and then ordinating the resulting composite clusters by detrended correspondence analysis (DECORANA). Various clusterings of the same data set can be compared using a percent mutual matches (PMM) index, and a matrix of such values can be ordinated for simultaneous comparison of a number of clusterings.This paper benefited at many points from discussions with Mark O. Hill and Robert H. Whittaker. Mark Hill suggested condensed data storage. This work was done under a National Science Foundation grant to Robert Whittaker. I also appreciate technical assistance from Timothy F. Mason and Steven B. Singer.     

Rapid extraction of high purity chromosomal DNA from Serratia marcescens

Rapid non-specific degradation of Serratia marcescens DNA extracted with guanidium thiocyanate, occurred within 10 min of incubation with restriction endo-nuclease enzymes. The described modified method based on chemical and enzymatic deproteinization produced preparations of Ser. marcescens DNA of high yield and quality which did not autodegrade when incubated with restriction endonucleases.     

Rapid method for direct extraction of DNA from soil and sediments.

A rapid method for the direct extraction of DNA from soil and sediments was developed. The indigenous microorganisms in the soil and sediments were lysed by using lysozyme and a freeze-thaw procedure. The lysate was extracted with sodium dodecyl sulfate and phenol-chloroform. In addition to a high recovery efficiency (greater than 90%), the yields of DNA were high (38 and 12 micrograms/g [wet weight] from sediments and soil, respectively). This method generated minimal shearing of the extracted DNA. The crude DNA could be further purified with an Elutip-d column if necessary. An additional advantage of this method is that only 1 g of sample is required, which allows for the analysis of small samples and the processing of many samples in a relatively short (7 h) period.     

Tests and confidence sets for comparing two mean residual life functions

The mean residual life function of a population gives an intuitive and interesting perspective on the aging process. Here we present new nonparametric methods for comparing mean residual life functions based on two independent samples. These methods have the flexibility to handle crossings of the functions and result in a new type of confidence set. We also discuss similar methods for comparison of median residual life functions.     

Rapid method for direct extraction of DNA from soil and sediments.

A rapid method for the direct extraction of DNA from soil and sediments was developed. The indigenous microorganisms in the soil and sediments were lysed by using lysozyme and a freeze-thaw procedure. The lysate was extracted with sodium dodecyl sulfate and phenol-chloroform. In addition to a high recovery efficiency (greater than 90%), the yields of DNA were high (38 and 12 micrograms/g [wet weight] from sediments and soil, respectively). This method generated minimal shearing of the extracted DNA. The crude DNA could be further purified with an Elutip-d column if necessary. An additional advantage of this method is that only 1 g of sample is required, which allows for the analysis of small samples and the processing of many samples in a relatively short (7 h) period.     

Rapid and reliable extraction of genomic DNA from various wild-type and transgenic plants

Background  

DNA extraction methods for PCR-quality DNA from calluses and plants are not time efficient, since they require that the tissues be ground in liquid nitrogen, followed by precipitation of the DNA pellet in ethanol, washing and drying the pellet, etc. The need for a rapid and simple procedure is urgent, especially when hundreds of samples need to be analyzed. Here, we describe a simple and efficient method of isolating high-quality genomic DNA for PCR amplification and enzyme digestion from calluses, various wild-type and transgenic plants.     

Rapid extraction of plasmid pGT5 from the hyperthermophilic archaeonPyrococcus abyssi

Hyperthermophilic archaea, specificallyPyrococcus spp., are the target of current efforts in developing heterologous expression systems. However, the published plasmid purification and plasmid screening protocols are long and tedious. We describe a fast, simple protocol for plasmid purification fromPyrococcus spp. developed while extracting the plasmid pGT5 fromPyrococcus abyssi cells. The protocol is modified from the procedures for commercial plasmid minipreps and is completed in about 20 min. The DNA is easily digested by restriction enzymes and can be used in sequencing reactions without additional purification.