Enhanced effects of combined cognitive bias modification and computerised cognitive behaviour therapy on social anxiety

This study examines whether combined cognitive bias modification for interpretative biases (CBM-I) and computerised cognitive behaviour therapy (C-CBT) can produce enhanced positive effects on interpretation biases and social anxiety. Forty socially anxious students were randomly assigned into two conditions, an intervention group (positive CBM-I + C-CBT) or an active control (neutral CBM-I + C-CBT). At pre-test, participants completed measures of social anxiety, interpretative bias, cognitive distortions, and social and work adjustment. They were exposed to 6 × 30 min sessions of web-based interventions including three sessions of either positive or neutral CBM-I and three sessions of C-CBT, one session per day. At post-test and two-week follow-up, participants completed the baseline measures. A combined positive CBM-I + C-CBT produced less negative interpretations of ambiguous situations than neutral CBM-I + C-CBT. The results also showed that both positive CBM-I + C-CBT and neutral CBM-I + C-CBT reduced social anxiety and cognitive distortions as well as improving work and social adjustment. However, greater effect sizes were observed in the positive CBM-I + C-CBT condition than the control. This indicates that adding positive CBM-I to C-CBT enhanced the training effects on social anxiety, cognitive distortions, and social and work adjustment compared to the neutral CBM-I + C-CBT condition.

Nitrosopersulfide (SSNO-) targets soluble guanylyl cyclase and induces vasodilation in vivo

Background Recent experimental evidence suggests that nitric oxide (NO) and hydrogen sulfide signaling pathways are intimately intertwined particularly in the vasculature, with mutual attenuation or potentiation of biological responses under control of the soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC) / phopshodiesterase (PDE) pathway. There is now compelling evidence that part of the NO/sulfide cross talk has a chemical foundation via the formation of S/N-hybrid molecules including thionitrous acid (HSNO) and nitrosopersulfde (SSNO-). The aim of this study was to characterize the bioactive products of the interaction between sulfide and NO metabolites targeting sGC that may potentially regulate vasodilation. Results We found that the chemical interaction of sulfide with NO or nitrosothiols leads to formation of S/N-hybrid metabolites including SSNO- via intermediate formation of HSNO. Contrary to a recent report in the literature but consistent with the transient nature of HSNO, its formation was not detectable by high-resolution mass spectrometry under physiologically relevant conditions. SSNO- is also formed in non-aqueous media by the reaction of nitrite with oxidized sulfur species including colloidal sulfur and polysulfides. SSNO- is stable in the presence of high concentrations of thiols, release NO, and activates sGC in RFL-6 cells in an NO-dependent fashion. Moreover, SSNO- is a potent vasodilator in aortic rings in vitro and lowers blood pressure in rats in vivo. The presence of high concentrations of SOD or thiols does not affect SSNO- mediated sGC activation, while it potentiates and inhibits the effects of the nitroxyl (HNO) donor Angeli's salt, suggesting that HNO release from SSNO- is not involved in sGC activation. Conclusion The reaction between NO and sulfide leads to fomation of S/N-hybrid molecules including SSNO-, releasing NO, activating sGC and inducing vasodilation. SSNO- is considerably more stable than HSNO at pH 7.4 and thus a more likely biological mediator that can account for the chemical cross-talk between NO and sulfide.

A review of the cognitive effects observed in humans following acute supplementation with flavonoids, and their associated mechanisms of action

Flavonoids are polyphenolic compounds found in varying concentrations in many plant-based foods. Recent studies suggest that flavonoids can be beneficial to both cognitive and physiological health. Long term flavonoid supplementation over a period of weeks or months has been extensively investigated and reviewed, particularly with respect to cognitive ageing and neurodegenerative disease. Significantly less focus has been directed towards the short term effects of single doses of flavonoids on cognition. Here, we review 21 such studies with particular emphasis on the subclass and dose of flavonoids administered, the cognitive domains affected by flavonoid supplementation, and the effect size of the response. The emerging evidence suggests that flavonoids may be beneficial to attention, working memory, and psychomotor processing speed in a general population. Episodic memory effects are less well defined and may be restricted to child or older adult populations. The evidence also points towards a dose-dependent effect of flavonoids, but the physiological mechanisms of action remain unclear. Overall, there is encouraging evidence that flavonoid supplementation can benefit cognitive outcomes within an acute time frame of 0–6 h. But larger studies, combining cognitive and physiological measures, are needed to strengthen the evidence base.

Gender, childhood and children’s literature: the CIRCL approach

This paper explores the unique approach to childhood and children’s literature of the research and teaching of the ‘Graduate Centre for International Research in Childhood: Literature, Culture, Media (CIRCL)’. CIRCL follows in its work the arguments of UK critical theorist Jacqueline Rose in her seminal 1984 book The case of Peter Pan or the impossibility of children’s fiction. Rose’s work has been widely and routinely referenced in Children’s Literature studies particularly, but CIRCL interprets her arguments as having quite different implications than those usually assumed. Rose is generally attributed with having pointed out that ‘childhood’ is not one, homogenous category, but that childhood is divided by gender, race, and ethnic, political and religious (and so on) identities. But for CIRCL this is only a first step in Rose’s arguments and certainly one not unique to her work anyway: the perception of various cultural and historical childhoods is widely held. Instead, my paper explores how Rose’s arguments are centrally about how ‘childhood’ itself cannot be maintained in the face of division, a division, moreover, which operates inevitably at every level, and which derives from Rose’s interpretation of psychoanalysis as formulated by Sigmund Freud, which Rose derives in turn from her readings of the interpretations of Freud by French analyst Jacques Lacan and French critical theorist Jacques Derrida. Finally, my paper argues how Rose’s position is about any ‘identity’, including gender and that this allies her work closely to that of the famous gender theorist Judith Butler, whose arguments are often (mis) understood in the same ways as those of Rose.

Higher PUFA and omega-3 PUFA, CLA, α-tocopherol and iron, but lower iodine and selenium concentrations in organic milk: a systematic literature review and meta- and redundancy analyses

Demand for organic milk is partially driven by consumer perceptions that it is more nutritious. However, there is still considerable uncertainty over whether the use of organic production standards affects milk quality. Here we report results of meta-analyses based on 170 published studies comparing the nutrient content of organic and conventional bovine milk. There were no significant differences in total SFA and MUFA concentrations between organic and conventional milk. However, concentrations of total PUFA and n-3 PUFA were significantly higher in organic milk, by an estimated 7 (95 % CI −1, 15) % and 56 (95 % CI 38, 74) %, respectively. Concentrations of α-linolenic acid (ALA), very long-chain n-3 fatty acids (EPA+DPA+DHA) and conjugated linoleic acid were also significantly higher in organic milk, by an 69 (95 % CI 53, 84) %, 57 (95 % CI 27, 87) % and 41 (95 % CI 14, 68) %, respectively. As there were no significant differences in total n-6 PUFA and linoleic acid (LA) concentrations, the n-6:n-3 and LA:ALA ratios were lower in organic milk, by an estimated 71 (95 % CI −122, −20) % and 93 (95 % CI −116, −70) %. It is concluded that organic bovine milk has a more desirable fatty acid composition than conventional milk. Meta-analyses also showed that organic milk has significantly higher α-tocopherol and Fe, but lower I and Se concentrations. Redundancy analysis of data from a large cross-European milk quality survey indicates that the higher grazing/conserved forage intakes in organic systems were the main reason for milk composition differences.

Composition differences between organic and conventional meat: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis

Demand for organic meat is partially driven by consumer perceptions that organic foods are more nutritious than non-organic foods. However, there have been no systematic reviews comparing specifically the nutrient content of organic and conventionally produced meat. In this study, we report results of a meta-analysis based on sixty-seven published studies comparing the composition of organic and non-organic meat products. For many nutritionally relevant compounds (e.g. minerals, antioxidants and most individual fatty acids (FA)), the evidence base was too weak for meaningful meta-analyses. However, significant differences in FA profiles were detected when data from all livestock species were pooled. Concentrations of SFA and MUFA were similar or slightly lower, respectively, in organic compared with conventional meat. Larger differences were detected for total PUFA and n-3 PUFA, which were an estimated 23 (95 % CI 11, 35) % and 47 (95 % CI 10, 84) % higher in organic meat, respectively. However, for these and many other composition parameters, for which meta-analyses found significant differences, heterogeneity was high, and this could be explained by differences between animal species/meat types. Evidence from controlled experimental studies indicates that the high grazing/forage-based diets prescribed under organic farming standards may be the main reason for differences in FA profiles. Further studies are required to enable meta-analyses for a wider range of parameters (e.g. antioxidant, vitamin and mineral concentrations) and to improve both precision and consistency of results for FA profiles for all species. Potential impacts of composition differences on human health are discussed.

Texture, realism, performance: exploring the intersection of transtexts and the contemporary sitcom

Contemporary US sitcom is at an interesting crossroads: it has received an increasing amount of scholarly attention (e.g. Mills 2009; Butler 2010; Newman and Levine 2012; Vermeulen and Whitfield 2013), which largely understands it as shifting towards the aesthetically and narratively complex. At the same time, in the post-broadcasting era, US networks are particularly struggling for their audience share. With the days of blockbuster successes like Must See TV’s Friends (NBC 1994-2004) a distant dream, recent US sitcoms are instead turning towards smaller, engaged audiences. Here, a cult sensibility of intertextual in-jokes, temporal and narrational experimentation (e.g. flashbacks and alternate realities) and self-reflexive performance styles have marked shows including Community (NBC 2009-2015), How I Met Your Mother (CBS 2005-2014), New Girl (Fox 2011-present) and 30 Rock (NBC 2006-2013). However, not much critical attention has so far been paid to how these developments in textual sensibility in contemporary US sitcom may be influenced by, and influencing, the use of transmedia storytelling practices, an increasingly significant industrial concern and rising scholarly field of enquiry (e.g. Jenkins 2006; Mittell 2015; Richards 2010; Scott 2010; Jenkins, Ford and Green 2013). This chapter investigates this mutual influence between sitcom and transmedia by taking as its case studies two network shows that encourage invested viewership through their use of transtexts, namely How I Met Your Mother (hereafter HIMHM) and New Girl (hereafter NG). As such, it will pay particular attention to the most transtextually visible character/actor from each show: HIMYM’s Barney Stinson, played by Neil Patrick Harris, and NG’s Schmidt, played by Max Greenfield. This chapter argues that these sitcoms do not simply have their particular textual sensibility and also (happen to) engage with transmedia practices, but that the two are mutually informing and defining. This chapter explores the relationships and interplay between sitcom aesthetics, narratives and transmedia storytelling (or industrial transtexts), focusing on the use of multiple delivery channels in order to disperse “integral elements of a fiction” (Jenkins, 2006 95-6), by official entities such as the broadcasting channels. The chapter pays due attention to the specific production contexts of both shows and how these inform their approaches to transtexts. This chapter’s conceptual framework will be particularly concerned with how issues of texture, the reality envelope and accepted imaginative realism, as well as performance and the actor’s input inform and illuminate contemporary sitcoms and transtexts, and will be the first scholarly research to do so. It will seek out points of connections between two (thus far) separate strands of scholarship and will move discussions on transtexts beyond the usual genre studied (i.e. science-fiction and fantasy), as well as make a contribution to the growing scholarship on contemporary sitcom by approaching it from a new critical angle. On the basis that transmedia scholarship stands to benefit from widening its customary genre choice (i.e. telefantasy) for its case studies and from making more use of in-depth close analysis in its engagement with transtexts, the chapter argues that notions of texture, accepted imaginative realism and the reality envelope, as well as performance and the actor’s input deserve to be paid more attention to within transtext-related scholarship.

The Climate-system Historical Forecast Project: do stratosphere-resolving models make better seasonal climate predictions in boreal winter?

Using an international, multi-model suite of historical forecasts from the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Climate-system Historical Forecast Project (CHFP), we compare the seasonal prediction skill in boreal wintertime between models that resolve the stratosphere and its dynamics (“high-top”) and models that do not (“low-top”). We evaluate hindcasts that are initialized in November, and examine the model biases in the stratosphere and how they relate to boreal wintertime (Dec-Mar) seasonal forecast skill. We are unable to detect more skill in the high-top ensemble-mean than the low-top ensemble-mean in forecasting the wintertime North Atlantic Oscillation, but model performance varies widely. Increasing the ensemble size clearly increases the skill for a given model. We then examine two major processes involving stratosphere-troposphere interactions (the El Niño-Southern Oscillation/ENSO and the Quasi-biennial Oscillation/QBO) and how they relate to predictive skill on intra-seasonal to seasonal timescales, particularly over the North Atlantic and Eurasia regions. High-top models tend to have a more realistic stratospheric response to El Niño and the QBO compared to low-top models. Enhanced conditional wintertime skill over high-latitudes and the North Atlantic region during winters with El Niño conditions suggests a possible role for a stratospheric pathway.

The Stephen Dwoskin dossier: introduction

This dossier aims to consider the contribution Stephen Dwoskin and his work made to the development of film and its infrastructure in the UK from 1964 when he arrived in the London until his death in 2012. Dwoskin not only straddled different contexts and ideologies about film but advocated for the support of work in a wide variety of forms. Because of this he was not easily categorizeable. Much of the work analyzing his camera work and his contribution to film is written in French and there is little, particularly in recent years, in English. As such this dossier constituted an important contribution to the reassessment of a singular avant-garde artist and film maker. (can I use avant garde here?) In the light of his recent death this is a timely moment for a consideration of Dwoskin’s achievements and legacy. As well as having a groundbreaking vision of what film could do, he was an influential figure and constituting force in terms of the milieu and structures that supported the independent film world in the UK for several decades. Much of the literature surrounding this world in the UK has been formed by key figures making sense of their part in history. This dossier aims towards some first steps in historicising his legacy. Two of the proposed texts will be making use of new material to conduct original research made available through the recently acquired Dwoskin Archive at University of Reading. Due to Dowksin’s heterogenous involvement in film, there are many ways in which Dwoskin can be considered and the proposed essays will take a range of perspectives to assess and analyse his contribution.

A new micro-whip scorpion species from Brazilian Amazonia (Arachnida, Schizomida, Hubbardiidae), with the description of a new synapomorphy for Uropygi

Surazomus uarini n. sp. is described and illustrated based on specimens collected by beating on understory vegetation of Amazonian ""terra firme"" upland rain forests. A new cuticular structure, possibly a gland opening, is described on the female tarsus I and terminal flagellum. A putatively homologous structure is reported from the same body parts in all Undescribed species of Rowlandius Reddell and Cokendolpher 1995; Stenochrus portoricensis Chamberlin 1922; Mastigoproctus maximus (Tarnani 1889), and Thelyphonellus amazonicus (Butler 1872); suggesting it new synapomorphy for the clade Uropygi (i.e., Schizomida + Thelyphonida).

Biomechanical effects of environmental and engineered particles on human airway smooth muscle cells

The past decade has seen significant increases in combustion-generated ambient particles, which contain a nanosized fraction (less than 100 nm), and even greater increases have occurred in engineered nanoparticles (NPs) propelled by the booming nanotechnology industry. Although inhalation of these particulates has become a public health concern, human health effects and mechanisms of action for NPs are not well understood. Focusing on the human airway smooth muscle cell, here we show that the cellular mechanical function is altered by particulate exposure in a manner that is dependent upon particle material, size and dose. We used Alamar Blue assay to measure cell viability and optical magnetic twisting cytometry to measure cell stiffness and agonist-induced contractility. The eight particle species fell into four categories, based on their respective effect on cell viability and on mechanical function. Cell viability was impaired and cell contractility was decreased by (i) zinc oxide (40-100 nm and less than 44 mu m) and copper(II) oxide (less than 50 nm); cell contractility was decreased by (ii) fluorescent polystyrene spheres (40 nm), increased by (iii) welding fumes and unchanged by (iv) diesel exhaust particles, titanium dioxide (25 nm) and copper(II) oxide (less than 5 mu m), although in none of these cases was cell viability impaired. Treatment with hydrogen peroxide up to 500 mu M did not alter viability or cell mechanics, suggesting that the particle effects are unlikely to be mediated by particle-generated reactive oxygen species. Our results highlight the susceptibility of cellular mechanical function to particulate exposures and suggest that direct exposure of the airway smooth muscle cells to particulates may initiate or aggravate respiratory diseases.