Cultural Experience Influences Multisensory Emotion Perception in Bilinguals

Emotion perception frequently involves the integration of visual and auditory information. During multisensory emotion perception, the attention devoted to each modality can be measured by calculating the difference between trials in which the facial expression and speech input exhibit the same emotion (congruent) and trials in which the facial expression and speech input exhibit different emotions (incongruent) to determine the modality that has the strongest influence. Previous cross-cultural studies have found that individuals from Western cultures are more distracted by information in the visual modality (i.e., visual interference), whereas individuals from Eastern cultures are more distracted by information in the auditory modality (i.e., auditory interference). These results suggest that culture shapes modality interference in multisensory emotion perception. It is unclear, however, how emotion perception is influenced by cultural immersion and exposure due to migration to a new country with distinct social norms. In the present study, we investigated how the amount of daily exposure to a new culture and the length of immersion impact multisensory emotion perception in Chinese-English bilinguals who moved from China to the United States. In an emotion recognition task, participants viewed facial expressions and heard emotional but meaningless speech either from their previous Eastern culture (i.e., Asian face-Mandarin speech) or from their new Western culture (i.e., Caucasian face-English speech) and were asked to identify the emotion from either the face or voice, while ignoring the other modality. Analyses of daily cultural exposure revealed that bilinguals with low daily exposure to the U.S. culture experienced greater interference from the auditory modality, whereas bilinguals with high daily exposure to the U.S. culture experienced greater interference from the visual modality. These results demonstrate that everyday exposure to new cultural norms increases the likelihood of showing a modality interference pattern that is more common in the new culture. Analyses of immersion duration revealed that bilinguals who spent more time in the United States were equally distracted by faces and voices, whereas bilinguals who spent less time in the United States experienced greater visual interference when evaluating emotional information from the West, possibly due to over-compensation when evaluating emotional information from the less familiar culture. These findings suggest that the amount of daily exposure to a new culture and length of cultural immersion influence multisensory emotion perception in bilingual immigrants. While increased daily exposure to the new culture aids with the adaptation to new cultural norms, increased length of cultural immersion leads to similar patterns in modality interference between the old and new cultures. We conclude that cultural experience shapes the way we perceive and evaluate the emotions of others.

Investigation on the Effect of Dose, Frequency and Duration of Allergen Exposure on Development of Staphylococcal Infections in a Chronic Model of Canine Atopic Dermatitis

Canine atopic dermatitis (CAD) is chronic and frequently complicated by Staphylococcal infections. Understanding the role of allergen dose, frequency and duration of exposure in triggering infections requires a model. Most models elicit acute inflammation and do not mimic real-life disease. Here we describe the effects of allergen exposures on development of infections in a model of chronic CAD. Diagnosis of pyoderma was based on clinical signs and consistent cytology. Study 1 evaluated the role of duration of exposure keeping the daily dose constant (25 mg/day). The one-week protocol involved three exposures, 3 days in a row. The one-month protocol involved twice-weekly challenges for 4 weeks. The three-month protocol involved twice-weekly challenges for 12 weeks. Study 2 evaluated different daily doses while keeping constant the total weekly dose (25 mg) and duration (3 weeks). Low-dose used 5 mg/day for 5 days, each week. High-dose used 12.5 mg/day twice-weekly. In Study 1, the longer the exposure, the more dogs developed pyoderma (6/9 in the three-month study, 2/9 in the one-month and 0 in the one-week). In Study 2, low-dose daily exposure caused more infections (5/8) than high-dose infrequent exposure (0/8). It is concluded that low-grade, daily exposure for a long time is most relevant for development of staphylococcal infections.

The mental health impact of daily news exposure during the COVID-19 pandemic: An ecological momentary assessment study

Consumption of distressing news media, which increased substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic, has demonstrable negative effects on mental health. The current study examines the proximal impact of daily exposure to distressing news on mental health. A sample of 128 college students completed daily ecological momentary assessments for 8 weeks measuring exposure to news about COVID-19, worry and optimism specifically related to COVID-19, hopelessness, and general worry. Participants completed >22,700 surveys. Multilevel mediation models indicated that greater daily exposure to news about COVID-19 was associated with higher same-day and next-day worry about the pandemic. Elevations in worry specifically about COVID-19 were in turn associated with greater next-day hopelessness and general worry. Optimism about COVID-19 was not associated with daily exposure to COVID-19 news or to same-day or next-day hopelessness or general worry. This study demonstrates the mental health impact of daily exposure to COVID-19 news and highlights how specific worry contributes over time to hopelessness and general worry.

Sporulation, Pilot-Scale Farming, Agar Quality and Ecotypic Variation of the Agar Seaweed Gracilaria Sordida.

<p>The purpose of this study was to investigate the sporulation behaviour, the feasibility of farming in an open-water system, the quality and quantity of agar from a range of populations, and the genetic variation of the important agarophyte Gracilaria sordida W.A. Nelson (Gracilariales, Rhodophyta), which is widely distributed around New Zealand. The mean, total output of carpospores and tetraspores, and the periodicity of their release from G. sordida plants collected in the Wellington area, were measured under different levels of salinity, temperature, light intensity and daily exposure time to the air. The conditions that gave the greatest carpospore release were found to be approximately 15-35%. NaCl, l5-20' C, 50-200 uE.m-2 s-1 and 1-3 h daily exposure time. The conditions that gave the greatest tetraspore release were found to be approximately 15%. NaCl, l5-20' C, 150-200 uE.m-2 s-1 and 2-4 h daily exposure time. The diurnal periodicity of carpospore and tetraspore discharge based on hourly recordings was also measured. The peak rate of spore output occurred in the morning (7:00-8:00 hours) and in the late afternoon (16:00-17:00 hours). The carpospores and tetraspores not only had the same size but also showed the same germination pattern. A year-long pilot-scale farming project involving seeding the spores of sexually mature plants of G. sordida onto nets and ropes in Pauatahanui Inlet, Porirua Harbour, proved that this seaweed can be grown from spores on artificial substrates in field conditions. Of the artificial substrates tested, the best one for spore attachment was found to be polypropylene rope, and the relative growth rate on this substrate was maximal in spring (3.4%.d-1). The estimated production rate was 18.2 tonnes of dry weight per hectare per year. Problems encountered during field culture included epiphytes, sedimentation, storm damage and theft of floats and ropes. Yield and gel strength of agar extracts were studied from G. sordida collected in summer from 23 sites around the country. Native agar yield ranged from 17% to 32% (dry weight). The yield of native agar from cultured samples of these populations ranged from l0% to 29%. The yield of alkali-pretreated agar ranged from 9% to 24%. The gel strength of native agar ranged from 30 to 307 g.cm-2. Agar gel strength after alkali-pretreatment ranged from 230 to 625 g.cm-2. Native agar gel strength from cultured samples ranged from 177 to 342 g.cm-2. The gelling temperature of agar from wild populations ranged from 39 to 47' C for native agar and from 38 to 45' C for alkali-pretreated agar. The melting temperature of native agar ranged from 79 to 98' C. The melting temperature of alkali-pretreated agar ranged from 85 to 98' C. The maximum relative growth rate obtained from samples of G. sordida populations cultured in plastic bags was 6.2%.d-1, which was obtained from the Aramoana population. Starch gel electrophoresis of proteins was used to measure genetic variation in G. sordida. Protein extracts were prepared from 17 wild populations around New Zealand and from samples of these populations cultured in plastic bags. 20 isozyme loci were examined in G. sordida samples. Results indicated that G. sordida has low levels of genetic variation. Only two loci (Gd-1 and Pgm-1) of the 20 loci investigated were polymorphic (10%). Estimated heterozygosity of G. sordida was 0.011. There was no genetic variation between a native population and its cultured sample. The genetic distances between all populations were small. From the cluster analysis, all populations could be divided into two groups. Results indicated that populations were independent of each other, in which the effects of selection and genetic drift prevail. The buffer systems which gave the best protein resolution were Ridgeway (RW), Tris-EDTA-Borate (TEB) and Tris-Glycine (TG) and the enzyme which gave the best result in all buffer systems tested was Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (GD).</p>

Sporulation, Pilot-Scale Farming, Agar Quality and Ecotypic Variation of the Agar Seaweed Gracilaria Sordida.

<p>The purpose of this study was to investigate the sporulation behaviour, the feasibility of farming in an open-water system, the quality and quantity of agar from a range of populations, and the genetic variation of the important agarophyte Gracilaria sordida W.A. Nelson (Gracilariales, Rhodophyta), which is widely distributed around New Zealand. The mean, total output of carpospores and tetraspores, and the periodicity of their release from G. sordida plants collected in the Wellington area, were measured under different levels of salinity, temperature, light intensity and daily exposure time to the air. The conditions that gave the greatest carpospore release were found to be approximately 15-35%. NaCl, l5-20' C, 50-200 uE.m-2 s-1 and 1-3 h daily exposure time. The conditions that gave the greatest tetraspore release were found to be approximately 15%. NaCl, l5-20' C, 150-200 uE.m-2 s-1 and 2-4 h daily exposure time. The diurnal periodicity of carpospore and tetraspore discharge based on hourly recordings was also measured. The peak rate of spore output occurred in the morning (7:00-8:00 hours) and in the late afternoon (16:00-17:00 hours). The carpospores and tetraspores not only had the same size but also showed the same germination pattern. A year-long pilot-scale farming project involving seeding the spores of sexually mature plants of G. sordida onto nets and ropes in Pauatahanui Inlet, Porirua Harbour, proved that this seaweed can be grown from spores on artificial substrates in field conditions. Of the artificial substrates tested, the best one for spore attachment was found to be polypropylene rope, and the relative growth rate on this substrate was maximal in spring (3.4%.d-1). The estimated production rate was 18.2 tonnes of dry weight per hectare per year. Problems encountered during field culture included epiphytes, sedimentation, storm damage and theft of floats and ropes. Yield and gel strength of agar extracts were studied from G. sordida collected in summer from 23 sites around the country. Native agar yield ranged from 17% to 32% (dry weight). The yield of native agar from cultured samples of these populations ranged from l0% to 29%. The yield of alkali-pretreated agar ranged from 9% to 24%. The gel strength of native agar ranged from 30 to 307 g.cm-2. Agar gel strength after alkali-pretreatment ranged from 230 to 625 g.cm-2. Native agar gel strength from cultured samples ranged from 177 to 342 g.cm-2. The gelling temperature of agar from wild populations ranged from 39 to 47' C for native agar and from 38 to 45' C for alkali-pretreated agar. The melting temperature of native agar ranged from 79 to 98' C. The melting temperature of alkali-pretreated agar ranged from 85 to 98' C. The maximum relative growth rate obtained from samples of G. sordida populations cultured in plastic bags was 6.2%.d-1, which was obtained from the Aramoana population. Starch gel electrophoresis of proteins was used to measure genetic variation in G. sordida. Protein extracts were prepared from 17 wild populations around New Zealand and from samples of these populations cultured in plastic bags. 20 isozyme loci were examined in G. sordida samples. Results indicated that G. sordida has low levels of genetic variation. Only two loci (Gd-1 and Pgm-1) of the 20 loci investigated were polymorphic (10%). Estimated heterozygosity of G. sordida was 0.011. There was no genetic variation between a native population and its cultured sample. The genetic distances between all populations were small. From the cluster analysis, all populations could be divided into two groups. Results indicated that populations were independent of each other, in which the effects of selection and genetic drift prevail. The buffer systems which gave the best protein resolution were Ridgeway (RW), Tris-EDTA-Borate (TEB) and Tris-Glycine (TG) and the enzyme which gave the best result in all buffer systems tested was Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (GD).</p>

Challenges in setting Permitted Daily Exposure (PDE) Limits for pharmaceuticals: A review

BACKGROUND: When more than one drug is manufactured at a shared facility or equipment in pharmaceutical manufacturing, the potential carry-over of the retained residue of existing drug product on product contact parts of the equipment to the next product can be a source of cross contamination. Permitted daily exposure (PDE) is derived based on the complete nonclinical and clinical data available and is a dose that is unlikely to cause adverse effects if an individual is exposed, by any route, at or below this dose every day over a lifetime. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to present a comprehensive review of available scientific knowledge for derivation of PDE. METHODS: PubMed and ScienceDirect databases were searched using keywords “PDE” and “pharmaceuticals” and all the relevant literature up to March 2021 was reviewed. We have also calculated PDEs for Tobramycin (CAS No. 32986-56-4) and Acetyl Salicylic Acid (ASA, CAS No. 50-78-2). RESULTS: This research will be useful for scientists working in the PDE domain. The given examples emphasize the importance of use of human data in calculating PDE. CONCLUSION: The duty of the risk assessor entrusted with setting PDEs is to derive a data driven, scientifically justified value that is safe for patients, while avoiding unjustified conservativeness that puts unnecessary burden on manufacturing.