scholarly journals Nature Controls Nurture in the Development of Sexual Orientation, and Voice is Nature’s Agent

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yehuda Salu
Keyword(s):  
Role Models ◽  
Stria Terminalis ◽  
Conditioned Stimuli ◽  
Sexual Conditioning ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Sexual Orientations ◽  
Medial Geniculate ◽  
Biological Substrates ◽  
Brain Parts ◽  
Proximate Explanation

A testable theoretical model is presented, proposing which brain parts and mechanisms are responsible for the nature and the nurture components of all human sexual orientations. The model integrates observations from humans and a wide range of animals. If validated, the model would provide a proximate explanation of the biological substrates of all sexual orientations. The basic assumptions of the model are: (1) Children learn automatically and subconsciously in non-sexual conditioning experiences cues for recognizing sexual mates. That skill emerges at puberty. (2) Adults in the child’s surroundings act as innocuous, unaware role-models that provide the learned cues for recognizing mates. (3) Voices of men and women serve as the innate, primary unconditioned stimuli (US) in that learning process. (4) The hypothalamus is the main area that elicits the signals of the unconditioned responses (UR). Those signals trigger the learning of the associated conditioned stimuli (CS) broadcasted by the role-models. (5) The amygdala, base nuclei of the Stria Terminalis (bnST) and hypothalamus play in humans similar roles to those they play in the other species. (6) The human medial geniculate nucleus (MGN) plays the roles played by the olfactory bulbs in rodents. (7) Detectors of innate primary US and activators of the unconditioned sexual responses (UR) are located in the MGN, Amygdala, bnST and Hypothalamus Axis (MASHA). The learned conditioned stimuli (CS) are recorded in the MASHA and in cortical areas. (8) The innate US-UR connections vary across three groups of children. In the first group, only men’s voices trigger the UR. In the second group, only women’s voices trigger the UR, and in a third group each voice can trigger the UR. That determines the learned cues. The first group will be attracted at puberty only to men, the second only to women, and the third group to both.

Theoretical and practical aspects in determining the current geochemical status of the Crimean peninsula and anthropogenic risk to public health

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Evstafeva ◽  
Svetlana Tymchenko ◽  
Anna Bogdanova ◽  
Olga Zalata ◽  
Yuliia Boyarinceva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Body ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Chemical Elements ◽  
Ecological Monitoring ◽  
Crimean Peninsula ◽  
Mercury Analysis ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Biological Substrates ◽  
Cadmium Selenium

<p>The implementation of basic principles of medical and ecological monitoring programs in Crimea previously reported in EGU proceedings consists of determining the content of a wide range of toxic, essential and rare earth elements in various biological substrates: soil, plants, water, human body. Biosubstrates are sampled in different locations with contrast natural and anthropogenic conditions: urbanized-rural, industrial-agricultural, natural resources. Lichens and poplar leaves are used as indicators of environmental contamination, particularly atmospheric pollution; liquid precipitation is used as an indicator showing the negative impact of air pollution on ecosystems; hair is used as an indicator of the total body intake of chemical elements. The update of databases, on some of the territories (Simferopol, Sevastopol, geographical regions with different soil characteristics, etc.) with regard to some of the elements (mercury, lead, cadmium, selenium, etc.) at this stage allowed to determine their biogeochemical status in conditions of intensive growth of anthropogenic load in recent years, and to compare it with the elemental status of the humans living in this territory. The databases for other types of territories continue to be extended, the relationship between morbidity to estimate of the environmental burden of disease for environmentally determined diseases (neurodegenerative, endocrine, respiratory, etc.) and chemical load on the territories, based on USEtox model; the functional state of target systems (nervous, immune, cardiovascular) and level of chemical elements in the human body and the overall elemental imbalance, is established. This has provided us with a degree of understanding on how the degree of population and individual health risk could be determined.</p><p>Mercury analysis was funded by RFBR according to the research project № 18-29-24212\19 entitled “Development of neutralization of mercury-containing waste without heating and the formation of wastewater”, 2018–2021 years; elemental composition was possible to determine due to RFBR project № 18-45-920042\20 entitled “Bioecological monitoring of heavy metals at board of Black Sea of Crimea”, 2018–2020 years. Physiological part of research was possible to accomplish due to funds by the V.I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University (Project No VG2019/15, АААА-А20-120012090158-7).</p>

scholarly journals Threat imminence dictates the role of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in contextual fear

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Travis D. Goode ◽  
Gillian M. Acca ◽  
Stephen Maren
Keyword(s):  
Unconditioned Stimulus ◽  
Fear Conditioning ◽  
Stria Terminalis ◽  
Conditioning Procedure ◽  
Conditioned Stimuli ◽  
Reversible Inactivation ◽  
Bed Nucleus ◽  
Contextual Fear ◽  
Context Dependent

ABSTRACTPrevious work indicates that the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is involved in defensive freezing to unpredictable Pavlovian conditioned stimuli (Goode et al., 2019). Here we show that the BNST mediates freezing to contexts paired with remote (unpredictable), but not imminent (predictable), footshock. Rats underwent a fear conditioning procedure in which a single footshock unconditioned stimulus (US) was delivered either 1 (imminent) or 9 minutes (remote) after placement in the context; each rat received a total of four conditioning trials over two days. Contexts associated with either imminent or remote USs produced distinct patterns of freezing and shock-induced activity but freezing in each case was context-dependent. Reversible inactivation of the BNST reduced the expression of contextual freezing in the context paired with remote, but not imminent, footshock. Implications of these data are discussed in light of recent conceptualizations of BNST function, as well as for anxiety behaviors.

Addressing geoscience diversity with innovative at-sea experiences for students and educators

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon Cooper ◽  
Lisa White ◽  
Jonanthan Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Role Models ◽  
Earth Science ◽  
Science Research ◽  
School Level ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Transformative Experiences ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Diverse Backgrounds ◽  
The U.S

<p>Many countries face significant challenges in attracting, retaining and diversifying the workforce in the geosciences.  In the U.S. likely contributing factors include the homogeneity of the pool of mentors/role models available both within the workforce and in the professorate.  Another probable factor is “exposure gaps” among student populations; i.e., differing access to engaging facets of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). To address these challenges, the authors have created a set of NSF-funded programs. The STEMSEAS program recruits undergraduates from diverse backgrounds and institutions to sail on research vessels transits in the U.S. Academic Fleet – giving them relatively short, but transformative experiences at sea. Along with carefully selected mentors who are also from diverse backgrounds, these students spend 5-10 days at sea with a network of students from across the country experiencing a wide range of oceanography and Earth science research techniques and data collection methods.</p><p>For educators, the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) utilizes transits and tie-ups of the scientific ocean drilling vessel <em>JOIDES Resolution</em> to provide professional development for educators based on the science and technology of science drilling. School of Rock programs aim to address specific diversity goals, focusing on measures to broaden participation at all levels (i.e., pre-college, undergraduate and beyond) in innovative ways (e.g., from place-based curriculum to longitudinal peer mentoring through extracurricular STEM communities).  We seek to add rich international experiences to enhance educators’ motivation and morale, while fostering connections to establish new mechanisms for increased engagement, broader recruitment, enhanced support, and improved retention of students from underrepresented communities from the middle school level to the undergraduate and graduate levels and into the workplace. </p><p>A sister program, Ambassadors for STEM Training to Enhance Participation (ASTEP) works with more upper-level undergraduate and graduate students to leverage both STEMSEAS and School of Rock.  In particular, ASTEP participants take part in both STEMSEAS and/or School of Rock programming, and then build on these experiences to create outreach materials and presentations to share with diverse communities afterwards. This presentation will share best practices and survey results from these programs and our participants that contribute to the conversations around diversity and inclusion, and replication of these models in international settings.</p>

scholarly journals Repertory characteristics of role models of university students’ security

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 129-135
Author(s):  
Valeriy G. Tylets ◽  
Tat’yana M. Krasnyanskaya ◽  
Aleksandr V. Lyakhov
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Role Playing ◽  
Student Groups ◽  
Psychological Issues ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Group Roles ◽  
Group Members ◽  
High Level

The article discusses psychological issues of the role repertoire of university students in a situation of danger. Topicality of the problem is related to the wide range of threats a group may face, and its low scientific knowledge. The purpose of the research presented in the article is to study the nature of the distribution of roles in the group when solving security problems. The main research hypothesis is the assumption that the need to overcome danger may contribute to the repertory and functional specialisation of roles in the group caused by the fact and type of danger. Achieving this goal required an experiment. When organising it, ethical restrictions related to the inadmissibility of purposeful placement of a person in a situation of threat to life and health were taken into account. This determined the use of role-playing capabilities as the basis of the experiment. 10 student groups (10≤n≤15) with a high level of group cohesion according to the Carl Emil Seashore’s index were involved in the experiment. Each group was offered three dangerous situations, differing in the “field” and “effect” of danger, and its participants were required to discuss, play and reflect the repertoire and functional content of the necessary roles. Experts were engaged to analyse the empirical data. According to the results of the study, two types of roles demanded by a dangerous situation were identified – those aimed at overcoming the threat (initiator, expert, developer, coordinator, controller, commentator) and those aimed at supporting group members (optimist, nihilist, conformist, dogmatist). It is established that danger by its very fact specialises the functions of group roles. Each type of hazard increases the significance of certain roles. Regardless of the type of danger, the group is most in demand for the roles of optimist, conformist and developer. The study is promising to continue on other sample compositions and arsenals of dangerous situations.

Japan's Far More Female Future

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bill Emmott
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Marriage Rate ◽  
University Education ◽  
Low Fertility ◽  
Female Leaders ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
To Come ◽  
Population Shrinking

The Japan that the world admired during the 2019 Rugby World Cup is a model of social stability, resilience, and efficiency. But it carries important vulnerabilities, rooted in its ageing demography and a population shrinking by 500,000 a year, made much worse by a declining marriage rate and low fertility, both of which have their source in a combination of growing financial insecurity, severe gender inequality, and poor use of human capital. Over the three decades since its 1990 financial crisis it has seen a deep divide emerge in labour markets both for men and for women between the 60 per cent of ‘regular’ workers who benefit from training and security, and the 40 per cent of ‘non-regular’ workers who have a precarious, untrained, lowly paid existence. To overcome its vulnerabilities will require reforms to improve the use of the country’s superbly educated human capital, by reducing insecurity for both men and women, and by greatly narrowing the gender gap. An opportunity is presenting itself thanks to a big rise in female entry to university education during the 1990s and 2000s and to the emergence of a wide range of role models able to give inspiration and confidence to the next generation. Japan is already becoming a place with more female leaders in politics and even business, but that rise is from a very low base. If that process can be accelerated by both public policy and private action, Japan could achieve much greater social justice and sustainable prosperity in the decades to come.

scholarly journals Policy, toxicology and physicochemical considerations on the inhalation of high concentrations of food flavour

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vlad Dinu ◽  
Azad Kilic ◽  
Qingqi Wang ◽  
Charfedinne Ayed ◽  
Abdulmannan Fadel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Inhalation Toxicity ◽  
Non Communicable Diseases ◽  
Prior Approval ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Toxicological Data ◽  
Regulatory Bodies ◽  
Biological Substrates ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
New Strategies

Abstract Food flavour ingredients are required by law to obtain prior approval from regulatory bodies, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in terms of toxicological data and intended use levels. However, there are no regulations for labelling the type and concentration of flavour additives on the product, primarily due to their low concentration in food and generally recognised as safe (GRAS) status determined by the flavour and extract manufacturers’ association (FEMA). Their status for use in e-cigarettes and other vaping products challenges these fundamental assumptions, because their concentration can be over ten-thousand times higher than in food, and the method of administration is through inhalation, which is currently not evaluated by the FEMA expert panel. This work provides a review of some common flavour ingredients used in food and vaping products, their product concentrations, inhalation toxicity and aroma interactions reported with different biological substrates. We have identified several studies, which suggest that the high concentrations of flavour through inhalation may pose a serious health threat, especially in terms of their cytotoxicity. As a result of the wide range of possible protein-aroma interactions reported in our diet and metabolism, including links to several non-communicable diseases, we suggest that it is instrumental to update current flavour- labelling regulations, and support new strategies of understanding the effects of flavour uptake on the digestive and respiratory systems, in order to prevent the onset of future non-communicable diseases.

What type of information is needed by AYA cancer survivors in Japan?

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e23165-e23165
Author(s):  
Chikako Yamaki ◽  
Yuki Nakatani ◽  
Toshiko Sato ◽  
Hikaru Taniguchi ◽  
Tomoko Takayama
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Survivors ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Unmet Needs ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Cancer Control ◽  
Cancer Center ◽  
Support Needs ◽  
Psychological Pain ◽  
Wide Range

e23165 Background: Cancer patients and survivors in the adolescents and young adults (AYA) generation often have a wide range of unmet needs, which include health related matters, communication problems, relationship difficulties, and life roles. Japanese AYA cancer survivors supposedly have these same unmet needs, but it is not clear which specific types of needs should be provided. The purpose of this study was to explore the support needs of Japanese AYA cancer survivors and to propose what type of information they should be provided. Methods: Eleven AYA cancer survivors and their families participated in group interviews. All participants were recruited from the Cancer-Civil Panel of Center for Cancer Control and Information Services, National Cancer Center Japan (NCC-CIS), which is commissioned by the NCC president to support NCC-CIS activities. Participants were asked about their 1) difficulties and painful issues during their cancer history, 2) information needs to handle those difficulties, and 3) willingness to support AYA patients suffering from cancer. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Three researchers coded the transcripts and constructed the categories to be assessed. Results: Difficulties and painful issues were compiled into four categories: (1) physical and psychological pain that come directly from cancer, (2) uncertainty of the situation and the future, (3) isolation and alienation that come from his/her unique experiences, and (4) distress of facing painful families. Information and support needs included three categories: (1) detailed experiences from the patient’s view, (2) ways to face his/her cancer and life role as a survivor, and (3) role models or companies for sharing the same experiences. All participants expressed the willingness to support someone by the disclosure of their own experiences. Conclusions: Japanese AYA survivors had unmet information needs for both medical and lifelong psycho-social issues. They would like to have information about a variety of personal and subjective experiences in order to recommend possible future solutions. These findings suggest that personal and narrative experiences would support AYA survivors in their efforts to confront their uncertain future with cancer.

scholarly journals Neural Field Theory of Evoked Response Sequences and Mismatch Negativity With Adaptation

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter A. Robinson ◽  
Natasha C. Gabay ◽  
Tara Babaie-Janvier
Keyword(s):  
Field Theory ◽  
Mismatch Negativity ◽  
Primary Auditory Cortex ◽  
Neural Field ◽  
Auditory Oddball ◽  
Neural Field Theory ◽  
Cognitive Studies ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Medial Geniculate ◽  
Complex Sequences

Physiologically based neural field theory of the corticothalamic system is used to calculate the responses evoked by trains of auditory stimuli that correspond to different cortical locations via the tonotopic map. The results are shown to account for standard and deviant evoked responses to frequent and rare stimuli, respectively, in the auditory oddball paradigms widely used in human cognitive studies, and the so-called mismatch negativity between them. It also reproduces a wide range of other effects and variants, including the mechanism by which a change in standard responses relative to deviants can develop through adaptation, different responses when two deviants are presented in a row or a standard is presented after two deviants, relaxation of standard responses back to deviant form after a stimulus-free period, and more complex sequences. Some cases are identified in which adaptation does not account for the whole difference between standard and deviant responses. The results thus provide a systematic means to determine how much of the response is due to adaptation in the system comprising the primary auditory cortex and medial geniculate nucleus, and how much requires involvement of higher-level processing.

scholarly journals Transport efficiency of membrane-anchored kinesin-1 motors depends on motor density and diffusivity

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahul Grover ◽  
Janine Fischer ◽  
Friedrich W. Schwarz ◽  
Wilhelm J. Walter ◽  
Petra Schwille ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lipid Bilayer ◽  
Lipid Bilayers ◽  
Gliding Motility ◽  
Supported Lipid Bilayers ◽  
Transport Efficiency ◽  
Collective Transport ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Biological Substrates ◽  
Motor Density

AbstractIn eukaryotic cells, membranous vesicles and organelles are transported by ensembles of motor proteins. These motors, such as kinesin-1, have been well characterized in vitro as single molecules or as ensembles rigidly attached to non-biological substrates. However, the collective transport by membrane-anchored motors, i.e. motors attached to a fluid lipid bilayer, is poorly understood. Here, we investigate the influence of motors anchorage to a lipid bilayer on the collective transport characteristics. We reconstituted ‘membrane-anchored’ gliding motility assays using truncated kinesin-1 motors with a streptavidin-binding-peptide tag that can attach to streptavidin-loaded, supported lipid bilayers. We found that the diffusing kinesin-1 motors propelled the microtubules in presence of ATP. Notably, we found the gliding velocity of the microtubules to be strongly dependent on the number of motors and their diffusivity in the lipid bilayer. The microtubule gliding velocity increased with increasing motor density and membrane viscosity, reaching up to the stepping velocity of single-motors. This finding is in contrast to conventional gliding motility assays where the density of surface-immobilized kinesin-1 motors does not influence the microtubule velocity over a wide range. We reason, that the transport efficiency of membrane-anchored motors is reduced because of their slippage in the lipid bilayer, an effect which we directly observed using singlemolecule fluorescence microscopy. Our results illustrate the importance of the motor-cargo coupling, which potentially provides cells with an additional means of regulating the efficiency of cargo transport.

scholarly journals Bed nucleus of the stria terminalis regulates fear to unpredictable threat signals

eLife ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Travis D Goode ◽  
Reed L Ressler ◽  
Gillian M Acca ◽  
Olivia W Miles ◽  
Stephen Maren
Keyword(s):  
Conditioned Fear ◽  
Stria Terminalis ◽  
Conditioned Stimuli ◽  
Variable Intensity ◽  
Reversible Inactivation ◽  
Bed Nucleus ◽  
Defensive Behaviors ◽  
The Us ◽  
Specific Factors ◽  
Fear And Anxiety

The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) has been implicated in conditioned fear and anxiety, but the specific factors that engage the BNST in defensive behaviors are unclear. Here we examined whether the BNST mediates freezing to conditioned stimuli (CSs) that poorly predict the onset of aversive unconditioned stimuli (USs) in rats. Reversible inactivation of the BNST selectively reduced freezing to CSs that poorly signaled US onset (e.g., a backward CS that followed the US), but did not eliminate freezing to forward CSs even when they predicted USs of variable intensity. Additionally, backward (but not forward) CSs selectively increased Fos in the ventral BNST and in BNST-projecting neurons in the infralimbic region of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), but not in the hippocampus or amygdala. These data reveal that BNST circuits regulate fear to unpredictable threats, which may be critical to the etiology and expression of anxiety.

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