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.     

Clock gene PERIOD3 polymorphism is associated with susceptibility to Graves’ disease but not to Hashimoto’s thyroiditis

ABSTRACT

Circadian disruption has been linked with immune-related morbidities including autoimmune diseases. PERIOD3 (PER3) clock gene is a key player in the mammalian circadian system. This study evaluated the possible association of PER3 rs2797685 (G/A) polymorphism and susceptibility of autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD) and assessed if this SNP contributes to disease characteristics and serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). The PER3 rs2797685 (G/A) polymorphism was assessed in 125 patients with AITD [Graves’ disease (GD), 69; Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT), 56] and 115 unrelated healthy controls. Subjects carrying at least one variant allele of PER3 rs2797685 (GA+AA) had increased risk for GD (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1–3.61, p= .05). There were no differences in the frequencies of genotypes and alleles of the PER3 rs2797685 polymorphism between HT patients and control subjects. No association was observed between genotypes of the studied SNP and any of the disease characteristics in GD and HT patients. The GA+AA genotype of PER3 rs2797685 was associated with lower levels of IL-6 in patients with Graves’ disease. There were no differences between genotypes of the studied SNP regarding TNF-α levels in GD, HT or control groups. In conclusion, this study provides the first evidence for a genetic association between GD and the PER3 gene, highlighting the possible relevance of polymorphisms in clock genes in the etiopathogenesis of AITD. However, functional studies to identify the underlying molecular mechanisms of this association are needed to translate these findings to clinical applications.     

Lixus petiolicola n. sp. from Northeastern Turkey and Lixus furcatus Olivier: Comparative systematic and ecological study (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Lixinae)

Lixus petiolicola n. sp. is described from Northeastern Turkey. Ecological data and morphological characters are presented in comparison with closely related species Lixus furcatus Olivier from the Palaearctic subgenus Callistolixus Reitter. Host plant of the new species is Prangos sp. (Apiaceae). Female lays eggs in the petiole where immature stages then develop; one generation is produced per year. Lectotypes of Lixus sitta Sahlberg 1823; L. parallelus Boheman 1842; L. eversmanni Hochhuth 1847; L. ferulaginis Apfelbeck 1899, and L. furcatus longicollis Petri 1905 are designated. A new synonymy is established: L. furcatus Olivier 1807 [=L. eversmanni Hochhuth 1847, n. syn.]. The name of L. recurvus Olivier 1807 is resurrected, excluded from synonyms of L. furcatus and attributed to the L. iridis group.     

Cytherella maremensis sp. n., a new ostracod from the Sea of Marmara (Turkey) (Crustacea: Ostracoda)

Cytherella maremensis sp. n., belonging to the family Cytherellidae, is described as new from a hydrothermal vent, located in the west of Marmara Island on the North Anatolian Fault crossing the Sea of Marmara. It was collected from a sediment core 55 m below sea level. Cytherella maremensis sp. n. is clearly separated from closely related species by its shape, length-height ratio and ornamentation.     

On-line preconcentration/determination of zinc from water,biological and food samples using synthesized chelating resin and flame atomic absorption spectrometry

An on-line flow injection pre-concentration-flame atomic absorption spectrometry method was developed to determine trace zinc in water (tap, dam, and well water), biological (hair and nail), and liver samples. As a solid phase extractant, a synthesized new chelating resin, poly(2-thiozylmethacrylamide-co-divinylbenzene-co-2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propane sulfonic acid) was used. The resin was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and surface area by nitrogen sorption. A pre-concentration factor of 40-fold for a sample volume of 12.6 mL was obtained by using the time-based technique. The detection limit for the pre-concentration method was found to be 2.2 μg L^?1. The precision (as RSD,%) for 10 replicate determinations at the 0.04 μg mL^?1 Zn concentration was 1.2%. The calibration graph using the pre-concentration system for zinc was linear with a correlation coefficient of 0.998 in the concentration range from 0.005 to 0.05 μg mL^?1. The applicability and accuracy of the developed method were estimated by the analysis spiked water, biological, liver samples (83–105%), and also certified reference material TMDA-70 (fortified lake water) and SPS-WW1 Batch 111-Wastewater. The results were in agreement with the certified values.     

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever: An overview

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a zoonotic viral infection that is a serious threat to humans. The disease is widely distributed in Africa, Asia, and Europe and has developed into a serious public health concern. Humans become infected through the bites of ticks, by contact with a patient with CCHF, or by contact with blood or tissues from viremic livestock. Microvascular instability and impaired hemostasis are the hallmarks of the infection. Infection in human begins with nonspecific febrile symptoms, but may progress to a serious hemorrhagic syndrome with high mortality rates. Enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) are the most used and specific tests for the diagnosis. The mainstay of treatment is supportive. Although definitive studies are not available, ribavirin is suggested to be effective especially at the earlier phase of the infection. Uses of universal protective measures are the best way to avoid the infection. In this review, all aspects of CCHF are overviewed in light of the current literature.     

Nitric oxide: a novel inducer for enhancement of microbial lipase production

The purpose of this study was to elucidate whether exogenous nitric oxide (NO) has a potential beneficial effect on lipase production capacity of some microorganisms. Sodium nitroprusside (SNP) was used as an exogenous NO donor in production medium. In comparison with the control (0 nM SNP), SNP concentrations from 10 to 100 nM induced lipase production in mesophilic bacterium Bacillus subtilis and cold-adapted yeast Yarrowia lipolytica. Especially, the maximum lipase activities for Y. lipolytica (81.2 U/L) and B. subtilis (74.5 U/L) were attained at 30 and 50 nM SNP concentrations, respectively. When compared to the control, the optimal SNP concentrations resulted in about 5.14 and 2.27-fold increases in lipase activities of B. subtilis and Y. lipolytica, respectively. Besides, it was found that the optimal SNP concentrations provided shorter incubation periods for lipase production. Conversely, no significant positive effect of exogenous NO on lipase production was determined for thermophilic bacterium Geobacillus stearothermophilus. This study showed for the first time that exogenous NO could be used as an inducer in the production of microbial lipases.     

Novel 1-(2-pyrimidin-2-yl)piperazine derivatives as selective monoamine oxidase (MAO)-A inhibitors

In the present study, a new series of 2-[4-(pyrimidin-2-yl)piperazin-1-yl]-2-oxoethyl 4-substituted piperazine-1-carbodithioate derivatives (2a-n) were synthesized and screened for their monoamine oxidase A and B inhibitory activity. The structures of compounds were elucidated using spectroscopic methods and some physicochemical properties of new compounds were predicted using Molinspiration and MolSoft programs. Compounds 2-[4-(pyrimidin-2-yl)piperazin-1-yl]-2-oxoethyl 4-(4-nitrophenyl)piperazine-1-carbodithioate (2j) and 2-[4-(pyrimidin-2-yl)piperazin-1-yl]-2-oxoethyl 4-benzhydrylpiperazine-1-carbodithioate (2m) exhibited selective MAO-A inhibitory activity with IC_50?=_?23.10, 24.14?µM, respectively. Some of the biological results were found in accordance with the obtained in silico data based on Lipinski’s fule of five.     

Prediction of enzyme function based on 3D templates of evolutionarily important amino acids

Background  

Structural genomics projects such as the Protein Structure Initiative (PSI) yield many new structures, but often these have no known molecular functions. One approach to recover this information is to use 3D templates – structure-function motifs that consist of a few functionally critical amino acids and may suggest functional similarity when geometrically matched to other structures. Since experimentally determined functional sites are not common enough to define 3D templates on a large scale, this work tests a computational strategy to select relevant residues for 3D templates.