Localized disruption of Narp in medial prefrontal cortex blocks reinforcer devaluation performance

Neuronal activity regulated pentraxin (Narp) is a secreted protein that regulates α-amino-3-hydroxyl-5-methyl-4-isoxazole-propionate receptors (AMPAR) aggregation and synaptogenesis. Mapping of Narp-positive neurons in brain has revealed it is prominently expressed in several limbic system projection pathways. Consistent with this localization pattern, Narp knockout mice show deficits in using the current value of a reinforcer to guide behavior, a critical function of the limbic system. To help assess whether this behavioral deficit is due to impairment of synaptogenesis during development or in modulating synaptic signaling in the mature brain, we have used a dominant negative Narp viral construct which blocks trafficking of endogenous Narp to axons. Focal injection of this viral construct into the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of adult mice, a region containing Narp-positive projection neurons, blocked reinforcer devaluation. Thus, these results indicate that Narp released from mPFC neurons plays a key role in mediating synaptic changes underlying instrumental reinforcer devaluation.     

Nonlinear epigenetic variance: review and simulations

We present a review of empirical evidence that suggests that a substantial portion of phenotypic variance is due to nonlinear (epigenetic) processes during ontogenesis. The role of such processes as a source of phenotypic variance in human behaviour genetic studies is not fully appreciated. In addition to our review, we present simulation studies of nonlinear epigenetic variance using a computational model of neuronal network development. In each simulation study, time series for monozygotic and dizygotic twins were generated and analysed using conventional behaviour genetic modelling. In the results of these analyses, the nonlinear epigenetic variance was subsumed under the non-shared environmental component. As is commonly found in behaviour genetic studies, observed heritabilities and unique environmentabilities increased with time, whereas common environmentabilities decreased. The fact that the phenotypic effects of nonlinear epigenetic processes appear as unsystematic variance in conventional twin analyses complicates the identification and quantification of the ultimate genetic and environmental causes of individual differences. We believe that nonlinear dynamical system theories provide a challenging perspective on the development of individual differences, which may enrich behaviour genetic studies.     

不同科学创造力个体干扰抑制机制的比较*

选取《科学创造力量表》筛选出高、低科学创造力个体各20名,通过完成经典Stroop色字干扰抑制任务,探讨高、低科学创造力的个体抑制机制的差异。结果发现:在Stroop色字任务上,无论是高科学创造力组还是低科学创造力组,都出现了Stroop干扰效应,但低科学创造力组的Stroop效应更明显;高科学创造力组在字色不一致条件下的错误率显著低于低科学创造力组,但是两组被试在Stroop任务反应时上差异不显著。本研究结果提示高科学创造力个体的认知抑制能力强于低科学创造力个体。     

The academic trajectories of children of immigrants and their school environments

Data from approximately 14,000 children in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey--Kindergarten Cohort were analyzed to examine the associations between children's immigrant status and their academic trajectories from kindergarten to 3rd grade, with particular attention to the effects of school environments. Growth curve modeling results indicated that most children of Latin American origin improved their reading and math scores faster than non-Hispanic White children, thus narrowing their initial score gap and sometimes even surpassing White children by 3rd grade. In contrast, although they maintained higher reading and math scores, children from East Asia and India showed decreasing scores over time, which tended to narrow their initial score advantage over non-Hispanic White children. School-level factors accounted partially for these differences. Particularly in terms of the academic trajectories, children of Latin American origin responded more to school-level factors than did children of Asian origin, who responded more to child and family background, with the exception of children from Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos, who responded more to school-level factors. Simulation results point to the importance of school resources for the academic trajectories of children of immigrants.     

Combining additive representations on subsets into an overall representation

Many traditional conjoint representations of binary preferences are additively decomposable, or additive for short. An important generalization arises under rank-dependence, when additivity is restricted to cones with a fixed ranking of components from best to worst (comonotonicity), leading to configural weighting, rank-dependent utility, and rank- and sign-dependent utility (prospect theory). This paper provides a general result showing how additive representations on an arbitrary collection of comonotonic cones can be combined into one overall representation that applies to the union of all cones considered. The result is applied to a new paradigm for decision under uncertainty developed by Duncan Luce and others, which allows for violations of basic rationality properties such as the coalescing of events and other framing conditions. Through our result, a complete preference foundation of a number of new models by Luce and others can be obtained. We also show how additive representations on different full product sets can be combined into a representation on the union of these different product sets.     

Cybercounseling in the United States and South Korea: Implications for Counseling College Students of the Millennial Generation and the Networked Generation

The National Board for Certified Counselors describes cybercounseling as the provision of some aspects of counseling through technology, via such applications as e‐mail, Web‐based information access, course registration, academic advising, and career guidance. The authors explore the characteristics of cybercounseling, describe its current use in the United States and South Korea, explore its advantages and disadvantages, and consider issues and concerns for college counselors.     

北魏宗教管理体制初探

南北朝时期的佛教和道教发展十分兴盛,为了加强对宗教特别是佛道两教的管理,北魏最早设置僧官制度,任命沙门统和仙人博士官,建立了比较完备的宗教管理体制:昭玄系统和崇虚系统,分别管理佛教和道教.北魏的宗教管理体制首开政府宗教管理的先河,国家在政治、经济等诸多领域对宗教实行宏观管理,其先进的管理体制以及诸多管理原则和管理方式为后世所借鉴,产生了极为深远的影响.     

江西武宁太平山佑圣宫

南昌大学江右哲学中心成立了"江西道教史"课题组,笔者有幸参加.因课题研究需要,本人于2007年8月1日至19日在江西各地考察道教宫观,先后考察了南昌青云谱、太平山佑圣宫、景德镇斗姥宫、贵溪鬼谷洞道院、萍乡横龙洞道院、武功山紫极宫和白鹤峰道观、会昌翠竹祠、赣州玉虚观、宁都翠微峰的金精洞碧虚宫、云台峰云台宫、普道岩紫微宫.其中太平山佑圣宫由于供奉有南宋道士章哲的肉身,是最引人注目的一处宫观.     

Spatial working memory load impairs signal enhancement, but not attentional orienting

The present study examined the effect of spatial working memory load on the attentional cuing effect. It is well-known that spatial working memory and spatial attention functionally overlap or share a common resource. Given this functional overlapping, it is possible that spatial working memory would also interact with the attentional cuing effect. Considering the distinction between channel selection and channel enhancement by attention (Prinzmetal, McCool, & Park, 2005), we expected that the interaction between spatial working memory and the cuing effect would differ with attentional processing type. Two experiments conducted with the spatial cuing paradigm showed that the magnitude of the cuing effect as measured by reaction time, reflecting channel selection, was uninfluenced by spatial working memory load. In contrast, spatial working memory load reduced the cuing effect as measured by accuracy, reflecting channel enhancement. These results suggest that spatial working memory load impairs signal enhancement by attention and does not influence attentional orienting per se. The interaction between spatial working memory and visual perception is also discussed.     

起点即终点--从高尔吉亚的命题看西方哲学的发展轨迹

对于西方哲学的发展历程,存在着一个公认的说法,即西方哲学从诞生到现在,共经历了两次被称为“转向”的研究主题的切换。第一次转向是从古代的本体论哲学到近代哲学的“认识论转向”。第二次转向是从近代的认识论向现代哲学的“语言转向”。古希腊哲人高尔吉亚因其命题而著称于世。塞克斯都的《反数学家》记载到,“高尔吉亚一连提出了三个原则:———第一,无物存在;第二,如果有物存在,人也无法认识它;第三,即便可以认识它,也无法把它告诉别人”。[1]与上述的哲学转向联系起来看,我们惊奇地发现,高尔吉亚命题竟暗含着预示哲学发展方向与命运…