scholarly journals The dawn of social bonds: what is the role of shared experiences in non-human animals?

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. 20200201
Author(s):  
Laura Busia ◽  
Matteo Griggio
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationship ◽  
Social Bonds ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Vertebrate Species ◽  
Human Species ◽  
Evolutionary Mechanisms ◽  
Shared Experiences ◽  
High Predation ◽  
Shed Light

Group-living animals can develop social bonds. Social bonds can be considered a type of social relationship characterized by frequent and consistent affiliative (non-reproductive) interactions. Social bonds with conspecifics bring many advantages, also in terms of direct fitness. A characteristic of social bonds is that they need time to develop. Several studies on humans have emphasized the fact that sharing experiences can affect the strength of social bonds. A similar trend can be spotted in non-human species. For example, a recent experiment showed that if chimpanzees watched a video together with a conspecific, they spent more time in proximity compared to conspecifics with whom they did not actively watch a video. Another experiment on fish showed that individuals who experienced a situation of high predation risk together, showed preference for each other compared to those who did not. As the link between shared experiences and social bonds is not explicitly recognized in non-human animals, the main goal of this work is to propose the exploration of this novel research path. This exploration would contribute to shed light on the evolutionary mechanisms of social bond (or friendship) development and maintenance between individuals in different vertebrate species, from fish to non-human primates.

scholarly journals Ancestral resurrection reveals mechanisms of kinase regulatory evolution

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dajun Sang ◽  
Sudarshan Pinglay ◽  
Sezen Vatansever ◽  
Hua Jane Lou ◽  
Benjamin Turk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protein Kinases ◽  
Loop Length ◽  
Regulatory Evolution ◽  
Evolutionary Mechanisms ◽  
Mitogen Activated Protein Kinases ◽  
Kinase Activation ◽  
Mitogen Activated Protein ◽  
Dynamics Simulations ◽  
Shed Light

AbstractProtein kinases are crucial to coordinate cellular decisions and therefore their activities are strictly regulated. We used ancestral resurrection to uncover a mechanism underlying the evolution of kinase control within the ERK family of Mitogen Activated Protein Kinases (MAPKs). Kinase activities switched from high to low intrinsic autophosphorylation at the transition from the ancestors of ERKs1-5 and ERKs1-2. A shortening of the loop between β3-αC and a mutation in the gatekeeper residue drove this transition. Molecular dynamics simulations suggested that the change in the β3-αC loop length affected kinase cis-autophosphorylation by altering the positioning of catalytic residues and by allowing greater flexibility in the L16 kinase loop. This latter effect likely synergizes with the known role of gatekeeper mutations in facilitating domain closure and thus kinase activation, providing a rationale for the synergy between the two evolutionary mutations. Our results shed light on the evolutionary mechanisms that led to tight regulation of a central kinase in development and disease.

scholarly journals Oxytocin increases after affiliative interactions in male Barbary macaques

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan V. Rincon ◽  
Tobias Deschner ◽  
Oliver Schülke ◽  
Julia Ostner
Keyword(s):  
Social Bonds ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Male Infant ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Barbary Macaques ◽  
Cooperative Relationships ◽  
Focal Animal ◽  
Neuropeptide Hormone ◽  
Infant Male

AbstractMammals living in stable social groups often mitigate the costs of group living through the formation of social bonds and cooperative relationships. The neuropeptide hormone oxytocin (OT) has been proposed to promote both bonding and cooperation although only a limited number of studies have investigated this under natural conditions. Our aim was to assess the role of OT in bonding and cooperation in male Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus). First we tested for an effect of affiliation - grooming and triadic male-infant-male interactions - with bond and non-bond partners on urinary OT levels. Secondly we aimed to test whether grooming interactions (and thus increased OT levels) increase a male’s general propensity to cooperate in polyadic conflicts. We collected behavioral data via full-day focal animal protocols on 14 adult males and measured endogenous OT levels from 139 urine samples collected after affiliation and non-social control periods. Urinary OT levels were higher after grooming with any partner. By contrast, OT levels after male-infant-male interactions with any partner or with bond partners were not different from controls but were higher after interactions with non-bond partners. Previous grooming did not increase the likelihood of males to support others in conflicts. Collectively, our results support research indicating that OT is involved in the regulation of adult social bonds, including in non-reproductive contexts. However, our male-infant-male interaction results go against previous studies suggesting that it is affiliation with bond rather than non-bond partners that trigger the release of OT. Alternatively, OT levels may have been elevated prior to male-infant-male interactions thus facilitating interaction between non-bond partners. The lack of an association of grooming (and by extension increased OT levels) and subsequent support speaks against an OT linked increase in the general propensity to cooperate, yet further studies are needed for a more direct test including the possibility of partner-specific contingent cooperation.

The Role of Zinc in Thyroid Hormones Metabolism

2019 ◽  
Vol 89 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 80-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana Soares Severo ◽  
Jennifer Beatriz Silva Morais ◽  
Taynáh Emannuelle Coelho de Freitas ◽  
Ana Letícia Pereira Andrade ◽  
Mayara Monte Feitosa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thyroid Hormones ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Thyroid Stimulating Hormone ◽  
Zinc Transporters ◽  
Serum Concentrations ◽  
Metabolic Adaptations ◽  
Serum T3 ◽  
Regulatory Effects ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract. Thyroid hormones play an important role in body homeostasis by facilitating metabolism of lipids and glucose, regulating metabolic adaptations, responding to changes in energy intake, and controlling thermogenesis. Proper metabolism and action of these hormones requires the participation of various nutrients. Among them is zinc, whose interaction with thyroid hormones is complex. It is known to regulate both the synthesis and mechanism of action of these hormones. In the present review, we aim to shed light on the regulatory effects of zinc on thyroid hormones. Scientific evidence shows that zinc plays a key role in the metabolism of thyroid hormones, specifically by regulating deiodinases enzymes activity, thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) synthesis, as well as by modulating the structures of essential transcription factors involved in the synthesis of thyroid hormones. Serum concentrations of zinc also appear to influence the levels of serum T3, T4 and TSH. In addition, studies have shown that Zinc transporters (ZnTs) are present in the hypothalamus, pituitary and thyroid, but their functions remain unknown. Therefore, it is important to further investigate the roles of zinc in regulation of thyroid hormones metabolism, and their importance in the treatment of several diseases associated with thyroid gland dysfunction.

Tracing New Genealogies

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer J. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Country Of Origin ◽  
American Family ◽  
Community Or ◽  
Immigration Laws ◽  
Shared Experiences ◽  
Biological Relationships

Chapter four turns to a more intimate form of affiliation than either nation or community: family. The period from the 1970s onward has produced the greatest concentration of cycles since modernism, because writers embraced the cycle to express the contingency of being ethnic and American. Family, rather than community or time, is the dominant linking structure for many of these cycles, reflecting how immigration laws placed family and education above country of origin. This chapter focuses on the role of family in the production and reception of Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club (1989), Julie Alvarez’s How the García Girls Lost Their Accents (1991), and Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth (2008). These cycles argue that subjectivity—and by extension gender and ethnic attachments—derives not only from biological relationships but also from “formative kinship,” which originates in shared experiences that the characters choose to value.

The Adult as Foe or Friend?: Childism in Guus Kuijer's Criticism and Fiction

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Joosen
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Children's Books ◽  
Children’S Books ◽  
Memorial Award ◽  
Adult Reader ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Selection Of

Compared to the attention that children's literature scholars have paid to the construction of childhood in children's literature and the role of adults as authors, mediators and readers of children's books, few researchers have made a systematic study of adults as characters in children's books. This article analyses the construction of adulthood in a selection of texts by the Dutch author and Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award winner Guus Kuijer and connects them with Elisabeth Young-Bruehl's recent concept of ‘childism’ – a form of prejudice targeted against children. Whereas Kuijer published a severe critique of adulthood in Het geminachte kind [The despised child] (1980), in his literary works he explores a variety of positions that adults can take towards children, with varying degrees of childist features. Such a systematic and comparative analysis of the way grown-ups are characterised in children's texts helps to shed light on a didactic potential that materialises in different adult subject positions. After all, not only literary and artistic aspects of children's literature may be aimed at the adult reader (as well as the child), but also the didactic aspect of children's books can cross over between different age groups.

Tax evasion in the medical profession An Empirical Study in the General Tax Authority in Iraq

2019 ◽  
Vol 118 (11) ◽  
pp. 80-88
Author(s):  
Ramyar Rzgar Ahmed ◽  
Hawkar Qasim Birdawod ◽  
S. Rabiyathul Basariya
Keyword(s):  
Tax Evasion ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
Medical Profession ◽  
Great Influence ◽  
Tax Law ◽  
Degree Of Confidence ◽  
Medical Professions ◽  
Shed Light

The study dealt with tax evasion in the medical profession, where the problem was the existence of many cases of tax evasion, especially tax evasion in the income tax of medical professions. The aim of the study is to try to shed light on the phenomenon of tax evasion and the role of the tax authority in the development of controls and means that reduce the phenomenon of tax evasion. The most important results of the low level of tax awareness and lack of knowledge of the tax law and the unwillingness to read it and the sense of taxpayers unfairness of the tax all lead to an increase in cases of tax evasion and in suggested tightening control and follow-up on the offices of auditors, through the investigation and auditing The reports of certified accountants and the use of computers for this purpose in order to raise the degree of confidence in these reports and bring them closer to the required truth and coordination and cooperation with the Union of Accountants and Auditors and inform them about each case of violations of the auditors and accountants N because of its great influence in the rejection of the organization of the accounts and not to ratify fake accounts lead to show taxpayers accounts on a non-truth in order to tax evasion.

Sharing Seoul: Appropriating Alleys as Communal Space through Localized Sharing Practices

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-114
Author(s):  
Im Sik Cho ◽  
Blaž Križnik
Keyword(s):  
Community Engagement ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Social Relationship ◽  
Spatial Dimension ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
Communal Life ◽  
Relationship Networks ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Communal Space

Sharing practices are an important part of urban life. This article examines the appropriation of alleys as communal space to understand how sharing practices are embedded in localities, how communal space is constituted and maintained, and how this sustains communal life. In this way, the article aims to understand the spatial dimension of sharing practices, and the role of communal space in strengthening social relationship networks and urban sustainability. Seowon Maeul and Samdeok Maeul in Seoul are compared in terms of their urban regeneration approaches, community engagement in planning, street improvement, and the consequences that the transformation had on the appropriation of alleys as communal space. The research findings show that community engagement in planning is as important as the provision of public space if streets are to be appropriated as communal space. Community engagement has changed residents' perception and use of alleys as a shared resource in the neighbourhood by improving their capacity to act collectively and collaborate with other stakeholders in addressing problems and opportunities in cities.

The Baluch, Sunnism and the State in Iran

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stéphane A. Dudoignon
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Social Life ◽  
The State ◽  
First Century ◽  
Local Democracy ◽  
Oasis Area ◽  
Shed Light

Since 2002, Sunni jihadi groups have been active in Iranian Baluchistan without managing to plunge the region into chaos. This book suggests that a reason for this, besides Tehran’s military responses, has been the quality of Khomeini and Khamenei’s relationship with a network of South-Asia-educated Sunni ulama (mawlawis) originating from the Sarbaz oasis area, in the south of Baluchistan. Educated in the religiously reformist, socially conservative South Asian Deoband School, which puts the madrasa at the centre of social life, the Sarbazi ulama had taken advantage, in Iranian territory, of the eclipse of Baluch tribal might under the Pahlavi monarchy (1925-79). They emerged then as a bulwark against Soviet influence and progressive ideologies, before rallying to Khomeini in 1979. Since the turn of the twenty-first century, they have been playing the role of a rampart against Salafi propaganda and Saudi intrigues. The book shows that, through their alliance with an Iranian Kurdish-born Muslim-Brother movement and through the promotion of a distinct ‘Sunni vote’, they have since the early 2000s contributed towards – and benefitted from – the defence by the Reformist presidents Khatami (1997-2005) and Ruhani (since 2013) of local democracy and of the minorities’ rights. They endeavoured to help, at the same time, preventing the propagation of jihadism and Sunni radicalisation to Iran – at least until the ISIS/Daesh-claimed attacks of June 2017, in Tehran, shed light on the limits of the Islamic Republic’s strategy of reliance on Deobandi ulama and Muslim-Brother preachers in the country’s Sunni-peopled peripheries.

Wetlands Explained

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
William M. Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Conservation Policy ◽  
Compact Form ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Conflicts ◽  
Science And Policy ◽  
Ecosystem Science ◽  
Wetland Regulation ◽  
Shed Light

This book brings together in compact form a broad scientific and sociopolitical view of US wetlands. This primer lays out the science and policy considerations to help in navigating this branch of science that is so central to conservation policy, ecosystem science and wetland regulation. It gives explanations of the attributes, functions and values of our wetlands and shows how and why public attitudes toward wetlands have changed, and the political, legal, and social conflicts that have developed from legislation intended to stem the rapid losses of wetlands. The book describes the role of wetland science in facilitating the evolution of a rational and defensible system for regulating wetlands and will shed light on many of the problems and possibilities facing those who quest to protect and conserve our wetlands.

Islam, Gender, and Democracy in Comparative Perspective

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Comparative Literature ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Women's Rights ◽  
Women’S Rights ◽  
Muslim Countries ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Shed Light

This volume reframes the debate around Islam and women’s rights within a broader comparative literature. It examines the complex and contingent historical relationships between religion, secularism, democracy, law, and gender equality. Part I addresses the nexus of religion, law, gender, and democracy through different disciplinary perspectives (sociology, anthropology, political science, law). Part II localizes the implementation of this nexus between law, gender, and democracy, and provides contextualized responses to questions raised in Part I. The contributors explore the situation of Muslim women’s rights vis-à-vis human rights to shed light on gender politics in the modernization of the nation and to ponder over the role of Islam in gender inequality across different Muslim countries.

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