Acts of intimate partner violence and abuse of nonhuman animals are common, harmful, and co-occurring phenomena. The aim of the present study was to identify perpetrator subtypes based on variable paths hypothesized to influence physical violence toward both partners and nonhuman animals: callousness and instrumental representations of aggression and rejection-sensitivity and expressive representations of aggression. Strong associations emerged between callousness and instrumental representations and between rejection-sensitivity and expressive representations. For males, callousness directly predicted both IPV and animal abuse. For females, (...) rejection-sensitivity predicted IPV. Instrumental representations mediated the relationship between callousness and animal abuse for females but not for males. Results suggest that IPV and animal abuse functionally interconnect, that perpetration of animal abuse may differ in function across gender, and that identifying distinct pathways to violence may facilitate violence prediction and prevention. (shrink)

Jaakko Hintikka points out the power of Skolem functions to affect both what there is and what we know. There is a tension in his presupposition that these functions actually extend the realm of logic. He claims to have resolved the tension by “reconstructing constructivism” along epistemological lines, instead of by a typical ontological construction; however, after the collapse of the distinction between first and second order, that resolution is not entirely satisfactory. Still, it does throw light on the conceptual (...) analysis Hintikka proposes. (shrink)

Consciousness is seen as a difficult “binding” problem. Binding, a process where different sensations evoked by an item are associated in the nervous system, can be viewed as a process similar to associative learning. Several reports that consciousness is associated with some form of memory imply that different forms of memories have a common feature contributing to consciousness. Based on a proposed synaptic mechanism capable of explaining different forms of memory, we developed a framework for consciousness. It is based on (...) the formation of semblance of sensory stimulus from (1) synaptic semblances when excitatory postsynaptic potentials arrive at functionally LINKed postsynaptic membranes, and (2) network semblances when these potentials summate to elicit action potential initiating activity in a network of neurons. It is then possible to derive a framework for consciousness as a multi-dimensional semblance. According to this framework, a continuum of semblances formed from background sensory stimuli and oscillating neuronal activities serve to maintain consciousness. Feasibility of this framework to explain various physiological and pathological states of consciousness, its subjective nature and qualia is examined. (shrink)

It is often overlooked that, in addition to the integrity of protein‐coding sequences (PCSs), human health is crucially linked to the normal expression of genes by cis‐regulatory sequences (CRSs). These CRSs often lie at some considerable distance from the PCSs whose expression they control and often within other genes. The resulting gene interdigitation can make long‐range CRS identification and characterisation difficult. We propose that the need to conserve long‐range CRSs in cis with their target PCSs through evolution, in combination with (...) gene interdigitation and co‐regulation of many genes by individual CRSs, has contributed to the persistence of conserved synteny blocks between diverse species. We further hypothesise that examination of the varying extents of synteny blocks between multiple species in combination with phylogenetic footprinting to find CRSs might provide important clues to the existence of crucial functional CRS–PCS linkages. Identifying CRS–PCS linkages crucial to human health will lead to a better understanding of how their disruption by CRS mutation or chromosome translocation might contribute to many distressing human diseases. BioEssays 26:1217–1224, 2004. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

Consciousness is seen as a difficult “binding” problem. Binding, a process where different sensations evoked by an item are associated in the nervous system, can be viewed as a process similar to associative learning. Several reports that consciousness is associated with some form of memory imply that different forms of memories have a common feature contributing to consciousness. Based on a proposed synaptic mechanism capable of explaining different forms of memory, we developed a framework for consciousness. It is based on (...) the formation of semblance of sensory stimulus from (1) synaptic semblances when excitatory postsynaptic potentials arrive at functionally LINKed postsynaptic membranes, and (2) network semblances when these potentials summate to elicit action potential initiating activity in a network of neurons. It is then possible to derive a framework for consciousness as a multi-dimensional semblance. According to this framework, a continuum of semblances formed from background sensory stimuli and oscillating neuronal activities serve to maintain consciousness. Feasibility of this framework to explain various physiological and pathological states of consciousness, its subjective nature and qualia is examined. (shrink)

Disease-related challenges are often associated with perceived uncertainties in individuals, triggering attempts to cope with the situation. Our study aims to understand patients’ coping strategies regarding health information-seeking behaviors (HISBs). It is guided by the Uncertainty Management Theory, and seeks to grant insights into multi-channel HISB by describing how uses of interpersonal and media channels interact to cope with uncertainties, and how trust influences the process of multi-channel HISB. Patients diagnosed with osteoarthrosis (N = 34) participated in qualitative semi-structured interviews, (...) from which five patterns of multi-channel HISB, ranging from a focus on the physician to a focus on the internet, were identified. These patterns are distinguished by underlying functions of trust – including trust serving as an additional coping strategy, and as an important influencing factor for perceiving information as meaningful – and by whether information needs remain and patients turn to multiple sources. These findings form the basis for further theory development considering the iterative nature of HISB and the role of trust. (shrink)

Chloroplasts and other plastids are plant cell organelles that account for major biochemical functions. They contain their own gene expression system but are integrated into the signaling network of the entire cell. Both nuclear and plastid genes are involved in chloroplast biogenesis, and the gene expression pathways both inside and outside the organelle are subject to developmental and environmental control. The plastid transcription apparatus reflects this general scheme, with a basic organelle‐encoded enzymatic machinery surrounded by factors that may be encoded (...) by nuclear genes. Among the transcription regulatory mechanisms thought to play a role during plastid development are: (1) differential usage of promoter elements; (2) phosphorylation of transcription factors by a protein kinase, which is itself subject to phosphorylation and redox control; (3) dynamic changes in the composition of the transcription apparatus. In etioplasts, the dominating polymerase ‘B’ is a bacterial‐type enzyme, whereas the major chloroplast polymerase ‘A’ is a much larger enzyme reminiscent of those in the nucleus. These two enzyme forms may share common components and recruit others during development. (shrink)

In several experimental conditions, neuronal excitation at the perirhinal cortex (PC) does not propagate to the entorhinal cortex (EC) due to a “wall” of inhibition, which may help to create functional coupling and un‐coupling of the PC and EC in the medial temporal lobe. However, little is known regarding the coupling control process. Herein, we propose that the deep layer of area 35 in the PC plays a pivotal role in opening the gate for coupling, thus allowing the activity (...) in the PC to propagate to the EC. Using voltage‐sensitive dye imaging for the brain slices of rodents, we show that a slowly inactivating potassium conductance in this area is essential to induce excitation overtaking the inhibitory control. This coupling between the distinct neural circuits persists for at least 1 h. We elucidate further implications of this network‐level plastic behavior and its mechanism. (shrink)

The phenomenon of inverse linking, where a noun phrase embedded within another behaves with respect to binding as though it were structurally independent, has proven challenging for theories of the syntax–semantics interface. In this paper I show that, using an LF-movement style approach to the syntax–semantics interface, we can derive all and only the appropriate meanings for such constructions using no semantic operations other than function application and composition. The solution relies neither on a proliferation of lexical ambiguity nor on (...) abandoning the idea that pronouns denote variables, but rather on a straightforward (and standard) reification of assignment functions, which allows us to define abstraction operators within our models. (shrink)

Links between Theory of Mind and Executive Function: Towards a More Comprehensive Model This paper addresses the problem of relationships between the development of theory of mind and executive function. An overview of empirical findings leads to the conclusion that the complex picture of the relations between EF and ToM development may result from the intertwining of different types and levels of reciprocal influences. It is, on the one hand, the level of emergence-type vs. expressive-type influences, and, on the (...) other hand, direct vs. indirect ones. Data from longitudinal and training studies suggest the asymmetry of reciprocal influences between EF and ToM, with the stronger impact of EF on ToM development, which supports the view that EF is a prerequisite of ToM development. A model is proposed that explains how different EF and ToM skills are involved in the specific types and levels of influences. The issue of disentangling in the analysis the different types of reciprocal impacts is also discussed. (shrink)

Major neurocognitive changes occur during adolescence, making this phase as one of the most critical developmental period of life. Furthermore, this phase in life is also the time in youth substance use has its onset. Several studies demonstrated the differential associations of alcohol and cannabis use concerning the neurocognitive functioning of both males and females. Past and contemporary literature on gender-specific effects in neuroscience of addiction is predominantly based on cross-sectional datasets and data that is limited in terms of measurement (...) variability. Given the importance of gender-specific effects in addiction studies, and in order to address the two above-mentioned gaps in the literature, the present study aimed to compare neurocognitive functioning of male and female adolescents in the context of cannabis and alcohol use, while employing a longitudinal design with multiple repeated measurements. Participants were 3,826 high school students (47% female; mean age, 12.7), which were recruited from 31 high schools in the greater Montreal area. Participants were requested to complete annual surveys for five consequent years, from 7th to 11th grade, assessing their alcohol/cannabis use and neurocognitive functioning (working memory, delayed recall memory, perceptual reasoning, and inhibition control). The analytical strategy was focused on the longitudinal association between each predictor (female, male) and each of the outcomes (domains of neurocognitive functioning). Multilevel linear models assessed the association of alcohol and cannabis consumption and the four domains of neurocognitive functioning. Results revealed a gender by within-subject interaction, suggesting a weaker effect of yearly fluctuation of cannabis use on working memory among males compared to females. Our findings suggest a different pattern of neurocognitive impairment of female and male working memory after using cannabis over the course of adolescence. Early initiation of cannabis use potentially results in more spatial working memory deficits in female adolescents. This may negatively influence young females’ capacity in academic settings and lead to significant impairment in adulthood, which critically decreases the individual’s quality of life. (shrink)

Smooth muscle cells have developed a contractile machinery that allows them to exert tension on the surrounding extracellular matrix over their entire length. This has been achieved by coupling obliquely organized contractile filaments to a more‐or‐less longitudinal framework of cytoskeletal elements. Earlier structural data suggested that the cytoskeleton was composed primarily of intermediate filaments and played only a passive role. More recent findings highlight the segregation of actin isotypes and of actin‐associated proteins between the contractile and cytoskeletal domains and raise (...) the possibility that the cytoskeleton performs a more active function. Current efforts focus on defining the relative contributions of myosin cross‐bridge cycling and actin‐associated protein interactions to the maintenance of tension in smooth muscle tissue. (shrink)

RésuméOn défend ici l'idée que la définition des notions sémantiques à l'aide des fonctions de probabilité devrait être vue non pas comme une généralisation de la sémantique standard en termes d'assignations de valeurs de vérité, mais plutôt comme une généralisation aux degrés de conséquence logique, de la caractérisation de la relation de conséquence que l'on retrouve dans le calcul des séquents de Gentzen.

Drawing on Christopher Boorse's Biostatistical Theory (BST), Norman Daniels contends that a genuine health need is one which is necessary to restore normal functioning – a supposedly objective notion which he believes can be read from the natural world without reference to potentially controversial normative categories. But despite his claims to the contrary, this conception of health harbors arbitrary evaluative judgments which make room for intractable disagreement as to which conditions should count as genuine health needs and therefore which needs (...) should be met. I begin by offering a brief summary of Boorse's BST, the theory to which Daniels appeals for providing the conception of health as normal functioning upon which his overall distributive scheme rests. Next, I consider what I call practical objections to Daniels's use of Boorse's theory. Finally I recount Elseljin Kingma's theoretical objection to Boorse's BST and discuss its impact on Daniels's overall theory. Though I conclude that Boorse's view, so weakened, will no longer be able to sustain the judgments which Daniels's theory uses it to reach, in the end, I offer Daniels an olive branch by briefly sketching an alternative strategy for reaching suitably objective conclusions regarding the health and/or disease status of various conditions. (shrink)

BackgroundAdolescents’ engagement in daily physical activity brings multiple benefits, including reduction in obesity, improvement of mental health, and enhancement of cognitive function. While prior studies have examined the link between physical activity and cognitive function, little is known regarding the extent to which this relationship is shaped by health and wellbeing factors. This study examines how subjective wellbeing and general health mediate the relationship between adolescents’ physical activity and cognitive function.MethodsThis study estimates a parallel structural equation model using the Program (...) for International Student Assessment 2018 dataset. Specifically, a total of 63,228 15-year-old subjects in nine countries/economies satisfied the study inclusion criteria, including in Bulgaria, Georgia, Hong Kong, Ireland, Mexico, Panama, Serbia, Spain, and United Arab Emirates. Frequency of moderate physical activity was reported weekly; SWB and GH were assessed using an internationally validated multi-item standardized questionnaire. SWB was measured by students’ self-evaluated satisfaction with their health, life, and schooling. GH was measured by students’ physical health and mental health status. Cognitive function was modeled as a latent function consisting of plausible values derived using item response theory on reading, mathematics, and science achievement tests.ResultsFindings indicated that increase in weekly MPA was positively associated with higher levels of SWB, GH, and CF among the study subjects. Parallel mediation analyses revealed that more frequent weekly MPA had relatively large direct effects on CF, and indirect effects channeling through improvements in SWB and GH were non-trivial. Heterogeneity results showed that boosts to CF, associated with MPA, were larger for mathematics and science than for reading.ConclusionThis study used a large-scale international dataset to show that the positive relationship observed between MPA and CF among adolescents was robust, and that SWB and GH were two critical mediators through which physical activity positively bolster CF. (shrink)

Drawing on Christopher Boorse's Biostatistical Theory (BST), Norman Daniels contends that a genuine health need is one which is necessary to restore normal functioning – a supposedly objective notion which he believes can be read from the natural world without reference to potentially controversial normative categories. But despite his claims to the contrary, this conception of health harbors arbitrary evaluative judgments which make room for intractable disagreement as to which conditions should count as genuine health needs and therefore which needs (...) should be met. I begin by offering a brief summary of Boorse's BST, the theory to which Daniels appeals for providing the conception of health as normal functioning upon which his overall distributive scheme rests. Next, I consider what I call practical objections to Daniels's use of Boorse's theory. Finally I recount Elseljin Kingma's theoretical objection to Boorse's BST and discuss its impact on Daniels's overall theory. Though I conclude that Boorse's view, so weakened, will no longer be able to sustain the judgments which Daniels's theory uses it to reach, in the end, I offer Daniels an olive branch by briefly sketching an alternative strategy for reaching suitably objective conclusions regarding the health and/or disease status of various conditions. (shrink)

ABSTRACTInspired by the discovery of positive age trends in emotional well-being across adulthood, lifespan researchers have uncovered fascinating age differences in cognition–emotion interactions in healthy adult samples, for example in emotion processing, memory, reactivity, perception, and regulation. Taking stock of this body of research, I identify four trends and five remaining gaps in our understanding of emotional functioning in adulthood. In particular, I suggest that the field should pay stronger attention to the prediction of real-world behaviour. Using the sample case (...) of work functioning, I outline gaps in current knowledge, including the lack of data on middle-aged adults, the neglect of relevant cognitive-emotional mechanisms, and the unclear role of life experience. Filling these gaps will enable progress in research on emotional aging in and beyond the work setting and enhance its practical utility for individuals, organisations, and society. (shrink)

A straightforward explanation of fundamental tenets concerning the quantum mechanical wave function results in the thesis that the quantum mechanical wave function is a link between human cognition and the physical world. The way in which physicists have not accepted this explanation is discussed, and some of the roots of the problem are explored. The basis for an empirical test as to whether the wave function is a link between human cognition and the physical world is provided through developing an (...) experiment incorporating methodology from psychology and physics. Research in psychology and physics that relied on this methodology indicates that it is likely that Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen's theoretical result that mutually exclusive wave functions can simultaneously apply to the same concrete physical circumstances can be implemented on an empirical level. (shrink)

The history of research on pseudoalleles, closely linked genes that have similar functions, is rich and complex. Because pseudoalleles’ proximity on the chromosome makes their distinction by the complementation tests traditionally used by geneticists difficult, and because they have similar functions, they were initially often considered as allelic forms of the same gene, hence their name. The Hox cluster is an emblematic example of a pseudoallelic gene complex. The first observations of pseudoalleles were made very early but remained puzzling until (...) a simple model explaining their formation and characteristics emerged in the middle of the 1930s. This model suggested that pseudoalleles originated by gene.. (shrink)

Looking for an adequate explication of the concept of a biological function, several authors have proposed to link function to design. Unfortunately, known explications of biological design in turn refer to functions. The concept of general design I will introduce here breaks up this circle. I specify design with respect to its ontogenetic role. This allows function to be based on design without making reference to the history of the design, or to the phylogeny of an organism, while retaining the (...) normative aspect of function ascriptions. The concept is applicable to the function and design of technical artifacts as well. Several problems well known with other definitions can be overcome by this approach. (shrink)

When do organizations decide to ‘adopt’ a given social issue such that they come to acknowledge it in their patterns of action and communication? Traditional answers to this question have focused either on the characteristics of the issue itself, or on the traits of the focal organization. In many cases, however, a firm’s decision to adopt or ignore an issue is not a straightforward function of firm or issue characteristics. Instead, we view issue adoption as a socially constructed process of (...) information exchange between parties that are involved in the emergence and evolution of the issue, mediated by third-party organizations. We refer to this process as the infomediary process and these latter organizations as ‘infomediaries,’ after the information mediation and brokerage roles they play in the social processes linking social issues to organizational impact. We present a concise theoretical model of how infomediaries establish credible linkages between focal organizations and social issues. The thrust of the model is that the infomediation process, rather than the issue or firm characteristics, is what really drives firm-level issue adoption decisions. (shrink)

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are ligand‐gated ion channels that bring about a diversity of fast synaptic actions. Analysis of the Caenorhabditis elegans genome has revealed one of the most‐extensive and diverse nAChR gene families known, consisting of at least 27 subunits. Striking variation with possible functional implications has been observed in normally conserved motifs at the acetylcholine‐binding site and in the channel‐lining region. Some nAChR subunits are particular to neurons whilst others are present in both neurons and muscles. The (...) localization of subunits in non‐synaptic regions suggests novel roles for nAChRs. Genetic and heterologous expression studies have identified a subset of nAChR subunits that are important drug targets while the study of mutants has identified genes functionally‐linked to nAChRs. Future studies using C. elegans offer the prospect of increasing our understanding of the functional diversity of a complex nAChR gene family as well as addressing the role of nAChRs and associated proteins in human disorders. BioEssays 26:39–49, 2004.© 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

We propose protein localization dependent signal activation (PLDSA) as a model to describe pre‐existing protein partitioning between the cytosol, and membrane surface, as a means to modulate signal activation, specificity, and robustness. We apply PLDSA to explain possible molecular links between type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) by describing Ca+2‐mediated interactions between the Src non‐receptor tyrosine kinase and p52Shc adaptor protein. We suggest that these interactions may serve as a contributing factor to disease development and progression. (...) In particular, we propose that signaling response is regulated, in part, by Ca+2‐mediated partitioning of lipid‐bound and soluble forms of Src and p52shc. Thus, protein‐protein interactions that drive signaling in response to extracellular ligand binding are also mediated by partitioning of signaling proteins between membrane‐bound and soluble populations. We propose that PLDSA effects may explain, in part, the evolutionary basis of promiscuous protein interaction domains and their importance in cellular function. (shrink)

X‐linked agammaglobulinemia is a heritable immunodeficiency disease caused by a differentiation abnormality, resulting in the virtual absence of B Iymphocytes and plasma cells. The affected gene encodes a cytoplasmic protein tyrosine kinase, Bruton's agammaglobulinemia tyrosine kinase, designated Btk. Btk and the other family members, Tec, Itk and Bmx, contain five regions, four of which are common structural and functional modules that are found in other signaling proteins. Mutations affect all domains of the gene, but amino acid substitutions seem to (...) be confined to certain regions. More than 150 unique mutations have been identified and are collected in a mutation database, BTKbase. Here we discuss the three‐dimensional structural implications of such mutations and their putative functional role. Of special interest are mutations affecting the pleckstrin homology domain, as Btk is the only disease‐associated protein so far reported to carry mutations in this particular module. (shrink)

In search for the “missing links” of queer posthumanist discourses, some nonhuman animals play a crucial role in setting up new possible ontologies of sexual diversity. However, the desire to trace “natural” evidence for sexual diversity and a non-binary gender system that goes beyond the simplistic “social constructionism” vs. “biological essentialism” dichotomy in the nonhuman world should be critically examined. In this article I analyze both the scientific and popular representations of “wild and weird” nonhuman animals that became rich (...) semiotic-material referents to human sexuality and gender diversity in order to propose “transpecies intimacies” as a strategy for overcoming the deadlock present in naturalizing and essentializing discourses. This essay focuses on the case of the spotted hyena, because this nonhuman animal functions as an important signifier and material resource for sexual differences on multiple levels of power relations – institutional, scientific, educational, somatic, discursive, and even affective. I consider how biomedical narratives on sexualized nonhuman animals employ hegemonic economies of sexual difference to build stories of a naturalized sexuality and an embodied gender difference wherein some chemical substances, like hormones, and some body parts, like genitals, serve as primary actors in this semiotic-material system. (shrink)

This study examined the relationship between individual differences in executive functions (EF; assessed by measures of working memory, Stroop, trail making, and verbal fluency) and ability to down-regulate and up-regulate responses to emotionally evocative film clips. To ensure a wide range of EF, 48 participants with diverse neurodegenerative disorders and 21 older neurologically normal ageing participants were included. Participants were exposed to three different movie clips that were designed to elicit a mix of disgust and amusement. While watching the films (...) they were either instructed to watch, down-regulate, and up-regulate their visible emotional responses. Heart rate and facial behaviours were monitored throughout. Emotion regulatory ability was operationalised as changes in heart rate and facial behaviour in the down- and up-regulation conditions, controlling for responses in the watch condition. Results indicated that higher verbal fluency scores were related to greater ability to regulate emotion in both the down-regulation and up-regulation conditions. This finding remained significant even after controlling for age and general cognitive functioning. No relationships were found between emotion regulation and the other EF measures. We believe these results derive from differences among EF measures, with verbal-fluency performance best capturing the complex sequence of controlled planning, activation, and monitoring required for successful emotion regulation. These findings contribute to our understanding of emotion–cognition interaction, suggesting a link between emotion-regulatory abilities and individual differences in complex executive functions. (shrink)

We argue that cognitive functions are not reducible to biological functionality. Since only neural animals can develop complex forms of agency, we assume that genuinely cognitive processes are deeply related with the activity of the nervous system. We first analyze the significance of the appearance of the nervous system in certain multicellular organisms, arguing that it has changed the logic of their biological organization. Then, we focus on the appearance of specifically cognitive capacities within the nervous system. Considering a case (...) of a minimal form of perceptual representation, we analyze the specific functional role of this minimal form of activity in relatively earlier nervous systems, arguing that though this role is only understandable within a biological organization, yet it is not reducible to the underlying biological functionality. Finally, we conclude that the appearance of cognition is in turn linked to the emergence of an autonomous neurodynamic domain and a qualitative change in body complexity. (shrink)

Professor Roeper adresses a large question, whether probabilistic semantics is a kind of semantics at all. Happily, he does this via an exploration of a specific issue on which he and Professor Leblanc have done important work. That is the issue of how the relationship of logical consequence can be characterized as a relation denned in terms of probability. Let us follow him in calling a relevant relationship of the latter sort the degree of implication, and follow Professor Roeper on (...) his quest for a satisfactory one. (shrink)

CB1 receptors are functionally present within brain mitochondria, although they are usually considered specifically targeted to plasma membrane. Acute activation of mtCB1 alters mitochondrial ATP generation, synaptic transmission, and memory performance. However, the detailed mechanism linking disrupted mitochondrial metabolism and synaptic transmission is still uncharacterized. CB1 receptors are among the most abundant G protein-coupled receptors in the brain and impact on several processes, including fear coping, anxiety, stress, learning, and memory. Mitochondria perform several key physiological processes for neuronal homeostasis, including (...) production of ATP and reactive oxygen species, calcium buffering, metabolism of neurotransmitters, and apoptosis. It is therefore possible that acute activation of mtCB1 impacts on these different mitochondrial functions to modulate synaptic transmission. In reviewing and integrating across the literature in this area, we describe the possible mechanisms involved in the regulation of brain physiology by mtCB1 receptors. Activation of mitochondrial CB1 but not of plasma membrane CB1 decreases brain mitochondrial activity, glutamatergic synaptic transmission, and memory performance. Several processes can be involved in this alteration of brain physiology, including mitochondrial ATP and ROS production, axonal mitochondrial transport, Ca2+ homeostasis, and/or metabolism of the neurotransmitter glutamate. (shrink)

To understand schizophrenia, a linking hypothesis is needed that shows how brain mechanisms lead to behavioral functions in normals, and also how breakdowns in these mechanisms lead to behavioral symptoms of schizophrenia. Such a linking hypothesis is now available that complements the discussion offered by Phillips & Silverstein (P&S).

Many functional glycoproteins are expressed on the lymphocyte cell surface. Some of them carry O-linked oligosaccharides (O-glycans), which are conjugated through serine or threonine residues. During various biological processes, including T-cell activation, a tetrasaccharide on the T-cell surface is dramatically converted to a branched hexasaccharide, called core2 O-glycan. The same structural change in O-glycans is also found on the lymphocytes from patients with immunodeficiency conditions such as Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome and AIDS. Several studies revealing the roles of core2 O-glycans in (...) immune responses show that this is a biologically significant change. In particular, core2 O-glycans expressed on the cell surface reduce cell–cell interactions, thereby regulating immune responses. Furthermore, core2 O-glycan is a key backbone structure in forming selectin ligands. Thus, O-linked oligosaccharides, in particular those containing core2 branches, play vital roles in immune responses and may play dual roles in certain situations. This review will summarize the results obtained from various studies investigating the roles of O-glycans in immunological processes. BioEssays 23:46–53, 2001. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (shrink)

Despite the importance of ethical leadership, the impacts of its different facets on firm-level performance are unclear. Drawing on the resource-based view of the firm and the group engagement model, we propose that ethical leadership consisting of leader humane orientation, leader responsibility and sustainability orientation and leader moderation orientation are beneficial to firm performance, and leader justice orientation plays moderating roles. We empirically tested this theoretical framework employing multi-source survey data collected from 264 Chinese firms. The findings reveal that both (...) leader humane orientation and leader responsibility and sustainability orientation have positive influences on both firm financial and social performance, while leader moderation orientation only has positive influence on firm financial performance. In addition, leader justice orientation positively moderates the relationship between leader humane orientation and leader responsibility and sustainability orientation and financial performance as well as the relationship between leader moderation orientation and social performance. These findings provide theoretical and practical implications for understanding how different facets of ethical leadership jointly function to influence firm performance. (shrink)

Many functional glycoproteins are expressed on the lymphocyte cell surface. Some of them carry O-linked oligosaccharides (O-glycans), which are conjugated through serine or threonine residues. During various biological processes, including T-cell activation, a tetrasaccharide on the T-cell surface is dramatically converted to a branched hexasaccharide, called core2 O-glycan. The same structural change in O-glycans is also found on the lymphocytes from patients with immunodeficiency conditions such as Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome and AIDS. Several studies revealing the roles of core2 O-glycans in (...) immune responses show that this is a biologically significant change. In particular, core2 O-glycans expressed on the cell surface reduce cell–cell interactions, thereby regulating immune responses. Furthermore, core2 O-glycan is a key backbone structure in forming selectin ligands. Thus, O-linked oligosaccharides, in particular those containing core2 branches, play vital roles in immune responses and may play dual roles in certain situations. This review will summarize the results obtained from various studies investigating the roles of O-glycans in immunological processes. BioEssays 23:46–53, 2001. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (shrink)

This study investigated the roles of the executive functions of inhibition and switching, and of verbal and visuo-spatial working memory capacities, in insight and non-insight tasks. A total of 18 insight tasks, 10 non-insight tasks, and measures of individual differences in working memory capacities, switching, and inhibition were administered to 120 participants. Performance on insight problems was not linked with executive functions of inhibition or switching but was linked positively to measures of verbal and visuo-spatial working memory capacities. Non-insight task (...) performance was positively linked to the executive function of switching (but not to inhibition) and to verbal and visuo-spatial working memory capacities. These patterns regarding executive functions were maintained when the insight and non-insight composites were split into verbal and spatial insight and non-insight composite scores. The results are discussed in relation to dual processing accounts of thinking. (shrink)

This book explains the relationship between intelligence and environmental complexity, and in so doing links philosophy of mind to more general issues about the relations between organisms and environments, and to the general pattern of 'externalist' explanations. The author provides a biological approach to the investigation of mind and cognition in nature. In particular he explores the idea that the function of cognition is to enable agents to deal with environmental complexity. The history of the idea in the work (...) of Dewey and Spencer is considered, as is the impact of recent evolutionary theory on our understanding of the place of mind in nature. (shrink)