Maternal supplementation of nucleotides improves the behavioral development of prenatal ethanol-exposed mice

Maternal ethanol consumption during pregnancy can induce learning deficits in the offspring. The objective of this study was to assess whether supplementation of exogenous nucleotides during pregnancy and lactation would ameliorate prenatal ethanol-induced learning and memory deficits in the offspring of mice, and to explore the possible mechanisms. In the present study, pregnant C57BL/6J mice were exposed to ethanol (5 g/kg body weight) intragastrically from gestational day (GD) 6 to GD15. The dams in exogenous nucleotide intervention groups were fed with feed containing 0.01 %, 0.04 %, or 0.16 % nucleotide powder, with control and ethanol groups receiving normal feed. The dams were allowed to deliver naturally and to breast feed their offspring. After weaning, behavioral tests were carried out in the offspring of each group. Serum oxidation indexes were analyzed, and the hippocampus of each offspring was collected and detected for acetyl cholinesterase (AChE) activity and the expression of p-CREB, CREB, and BDNF. The results showed that maternal supplementation with exogenous nucleotides during pregnancy could ameliorate prenatal ethanol-induced learning and memory deficits in the offspring of mice, through improving their antioxidant capacity, reversing hippocampus AChE levels, and allowing the expression of some proteins related to learning and memory. However, different sensitivities were found between the two sexes.     

The counselor perspective on the use of directives in counseling in China: Are directives different in China as in the United States?

Eight Chinese counselors were interviewed about their use of directives in counseling. They typically believed that directives can be beneficial in counseling Chinese clients. They used directives to extend the influence of counseling beyond sessions, meet client needs and expectations, and fit their own personality and orientation. In terms of conditions that need to be met for directives to be helpful, they identified client factors such as readiness, communication styles, past experience, and insight; the counselor factor of ability to communicate directives; and the therapeutic relationship. They emphasized the importance of clients acquiring a new perspective as a result of directives. Cultural factors in using directives are discussed.     

Momentary Return of the Cosmic Unconscious: The Nature of Zen/Chan Enlightenment

Zen/Chan, which used to be a Far Eastern philosophy-cum-religion, has evolved into a global cultural phenomenon. Despite the many views expressed by numerous thinkers in the world, the consensus on Chan and Chan enlightenment remains an agnostic Oriental mysticism. By exploring Chan and enlightenment from a combined perspective of history, philosophy, psychology, religion and linguistics, this article proposes a hitherto unexpressed view. Chan enlightenment is a prenatal physico-psychological existence, which grows out of a fetal subject’s perception of the womb. Although this primordial mode of perception is unconscious, it is cosmic in nature because for the fetal subject the womb is the whole world with which it feels to be at one. This unconscious oneness may be termed the ‘cosmic unconscious’. Once born, no one can return to the prenatal mental state, but through personal cultivation and Chan practice one can experience a fleeting moment of the cosmic unconscious. In the final analysis, the essence of Chan enlightenment is a momentary return of the cosmic unconscious. It is, therefore, not a great wisdom which enables one to have a profound understanding of the self and the world, but a non-wisdom induced by a return to the prenatal primal being of life.     

Formation of profuse <c+a> dislocations in deformed calcium-containing magnesium alloys

We report that <c+a> pyramidal slipping could be more easily activated in textured Mg–Ca alloys with increasing Ca contents dissolved in α-Mg matrix under tensile deformation, and it is proposed that the decreased stacking fault energy plays the critical rule. In contrast, only twins and <a> basal dislocations are observed in the compressed samples. The results would provide insight into understanding of the deformation mechanism and designing more ductile Mg alloys.     

The Relationship Between Family Stress and Behavioral Health Among African American Adolescents

African American youth, especially those who live in low-income communities, are at increased risk for experiencing higher juvenile justice involvement, poorer mental health, low school engagement, higher illicit drug use, and STIs, relative to their higher income peers and those from other ethnic backgrounds. However, few studies have examined the relationship between family stressors and these multiple youth concerns. This study examines the relationship between family stress (i.e., having an adult in the home with a history of mental illness, substance use, and incarceration) and youth concerns such as substance use, mental health challenges, low school engagement, juvenile justice involvement, and STI risk behaviors. A total of 638 African American adolescents living in predominantly low-income, urban communities participated in the study by completing self-report measures on the above constructs. Logistic regressions controlling for age, gender, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation indicated that adolescents who reported higher rates of family stress were significantly more likely to report mental health problems, delinquent behaviors, juvenile justice involvement, drug use, risky sex, and lower school engagement factors. Findings suggest that attending to the developmental concerns of youth also requires addressing the needs of the family unit.     

大学生地域歧视现象态度量表的编制及信效度检验

地域歧视现象的存在是违背和谐社会理念的,人们对此现象是什么态度?研究以费施贝因和阿扎吉提出的理性行为模型理论为基础,选取网络上最活跃的大学生为样本,编制了大学生地域歧视现象态度量表,构建了对地域歧视现象态度、对地域歧视者态度和对被歧视者态度3个维度。通过整理访谈资料、参考相关量表、专家讨论等方法编制条目。选取358名被试进行预测试,617名被试正式测试。研究结果表明,大学生地域歧视现象态度量表建构的3个维度结构合理,量表的项目分析、探索性分析和验证性分析符合心理测量学要求,是测量中国大学生地域歧视现象态度的有效工具。     

自我反思对智慧的影响：有调节的中介模型

采用问卷法对1019名大学生进行调查,考察意义寻求在自我反思与智慧之间的中介作用以及生活事件对这一中介过程的调节作用。结果显示：(1)自我反思显著正向预测智慧;(2)意义寻求在自我反思与智慧之间起部分中介作用;(3)意义寻求的中介作用受到生活事件的调节,生活事件调节了自我反思通过意义寻求影响智慧这一中介过程的后半路径。因此,自我反思对智慧的影响是有调节的中介效应。     

Social attention across borders: A cross-cultural investigation of gaze cueing elicited by same- and other-ethnicity faces

The gaze-cueing effect is a robust phenomenon which illustrates how attention can be shaped by social factors. In four experiments, the present study explored the interaction between the ethnic membership of the participant and that of the face providing the gaze cue. Firstly, we aimed to further investigate the differential impact of White, Black, and Asian faces on the gaze-cueing effect in White individuals. Secondly, we aimed to explore, for the first time, the impact of faces belonging to different ethnicities on gaze cueing in Chinese participants. The results allowed to rule out alternative accounts and showed that White participants exhibit a gaze-cueing effect for White and Asian faces, but not for Black faces, consistent with previous studies. As regards Chinese participants, the overall findings suggested a stronger gaze-cueing effect for White faces than for Asian faces. The results are discussed with reference to differences in the perceived social status of the various groups, pointing to the need of taking into account different cultural contexts.     

Examining Cultural,Ethnic, and Religious Differences with the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness and Spirituality in the U.S. and India

Journal of Religion and Health - The Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality (BMMRS) is regularly used to measure spirituality and religiosity in U.S. Christian populations,...     

情绪面孔的意识神经相关物及其无意识自动加工：来自事件相关电位的证据

意识的神经相关物尚有争议, 且个体能否无意识自动检测视觉环境变化尚不清楚。本研究采用非注意视盲范式操控视觉意识, 并引入具有社会信息的情绪面孔, 探讨意识的神经相关物以及视觉意识与自动检测变化机制的关系。在A阶段, 部分被试对任务无关的情绪面孔处于无意识水平; 在B阶段, 所有被试对任务无关的情绪面孔处于意识水平; 在C阶段, 所有被试对任务相关的情绪面孔处于意识水平。结果显示, 任务无关的情绪面孔的意识过程诱发视觉意识负波(visual awareness negativity, VAN)、晚期正成分(late positivity, LP)和晚期枕区正成分(late occipital positivity, LOP)。此外, 无意识的情绪面孔能诱发视觉失匹配负波(visual mismatch negativity, vMMN), 且其幅值不受意识影响, 但是受任务相关性调制。这些结果提示对情绪面孔的视觉意识在不同的时间进程上有不同的ERP指标——VAN反映早期知觉经验, 而LP和LOP反映晚期意识过程, 而且面孔情绪信息的自动加工独立于视觉意识, 但是受视觉注意调制。