The Person Reference Process in Spontaneous Trait Inferences.

Five studies examined whether spontaneous trait inferences uniquely reference the person who performed a trait-implying behavior. On each study trial in 5 studies, participants saw 2 faces and a behavioral sentence referring to one of them. Later, participants saw face-trait pairs and indicated whether they had seen the trait word in the sentence presented with the face. Participants falsely recognized implied traits more when these traits were paired with actors' faces than with control faces. This effect was replicated for a large set effaces (120), after a week delay between study and recognition test, when equal attention was paid to each face, and when the orientation of the face at recognition was different from the orientation at encoding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding the role of impulsivity and externalizing psychopathology in alcohol abuse: Application of the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale.

The present study explores the relation among 4 personality traits associated with impulsive behavior and alcohol abuse. Personality traits were measured using the 4 subscales of the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale (UPPS: S. P. Whiteside & D. R. Lynam. 2001). The UPPS and measures of psychopathology were administered to clinical samples of alcohol abusers high in antisocial personality traits (AAPD), alcohol abusers low in antisocial personality traits (AA), and a control group (total N = 60). Separate analyses of variance indicated that AAPDs had significant elevations on all 4 UPPS scales, whereas the AAs and controls differed only on the Urgency subscale. However, when controlling for psychopathology, group differences on the UPPS scales disappeared. The results suggest that personality traits related to impulsive behavior are not directly related to alcohol abuse but rather are associated with the elevated levels of psychopathology found in a subtype of alcohol abusers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Grand theories of personality cannot be integrated.

Comments on the original article "A New Big Five: Fundamental Principles for an Integrative Science of Personality," by Dan P. McAdams and Jennifer L. Pals (see record 2006-03947-002). McAdams and Pals (April 2006) presented a new model to integrate the field of personality psychology. Cultural and evolutionary factors interact with an individual's basic traits, characteristic adaptations, and life narratives, which in turn are linked to roles, demands, and behaviors. The current authors welcome McAdams and Pals's (2006) model for providing a way to integrate much of the previously disparate empirical findings in personality psychology. However, the current authors also think that McAdams and Pals (2006) overstated the inclusiveness of the model, and more generally, the current authors dispute their assertion that the grand theories of personality can be integrated within a single model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal attraction and personality: What is attractive--self similarity, ideal similarity, complementarity or attachment security?

Little is known about whether personality characteristics influence initial attraction. Because adult attachment differences influence a broad range of relationship processes, the authors examined their role in 3 experimental attraction studies. The authors tested four major attraction hypotheses--self similarity, ideal-self similarity, complementarity, and attachment security--and examined both actual and perceptual factors. Replicated analyses across samples, designs, and manipulations showed that actual security and self similarity predicted attraction. With regard to perceptual factors, ideal similarity, self similarity, and security all were significant predictors. Whereas perceptual ideal and self similarity had incremental predictive power, perceptual security's effects were subsumed by perceptual ideal similarity. Perceptual self similarity fully mediated actual attachment similarity effects, whereas ideal similarity was only a partial mediator. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Determinants of health knowledge: An investigation of age, gender, abilities, personality, and interests.

Ten areas of health knowledge were investigated in 2 studies, 1 of college students (N=169) and 1 of adults from the community (ages 19-70; N=176). Measures assessed knowledge of aging, orthopedic/ dermatological concerns, common illnesses, childhood/early life, serious illnesses, mental health, nutrition, reproduction, safety, and treatment of illness/disease. Significant gender differences favoring women were found for most areas of health knowledge, especially reproduction and early life. Results showed that cognitive ability accounted for the most variance in health knowledge with nonability (personality and interest traits) and demographic variables accounting for smaller but significant amounts of variance across most knowledge domains. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recent Advances in the Detection of Antibiotic and Multi-Drug Resistant Salmonella: An Update

Antibiotic and multi-drug resistant (MDR) Salmonella poses a significant threat to public health due to its ability to colonize animals (cold and warm-blooded) and contaminate freshwater supplies. Monitoring antibiotic resistant Salmonella is traditionally costly, involving the application of phenotypic and genotypic tests over several days. However, with the introduction of cheaper semi-automated devices in the last decade, strain detection and identification times have significantly fallen. This, in turn, has led to efficiently regulated food production systems and further reductions in food safety hazards. This review highlights current and emerging technologies used in the detection of antibiotic resistant and MDR Salmonella.     

Genome-Wide Analysis Identified a Set of Conserved lncRNAs Associated with Domestication-Related Traits in Rice

Crop domestication, which gives rise to a number of desirable agronomic traits, represents a typical model system of plant evolution. Numerous genomic evidence has proven that noncoding RNAs such as microRNAs and phasiRNAs, as well as protein-coding genes, are selected during crop domestication. However, limited data shows plant long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are also involved in this biological process. In this study, we performed strand-specific RNA sequencing of cultivated rice Oryza sativa ssp. japonica and O. sativa ssp. indica, and their wild progenitor O. rufipogon. We identified a total of 8528 lncRNAs, including 4072 lncRNAs in O. rufipogon, 2091 lncRNAs in japonica rice, and 2365 lncRNAs in indica rice. The lncRNAs expressed in wild rice were revealed to be shorter in length and had fewer exon numbers when compared with lncRNAs from cultivated rice. We also identified a number of conserved lncRNAs in the wild and cultivated rice. The functional study demonstrated that several of these conserved lncRNAs are associated with domestication-related traits in rice. Our findings revealed the feature and conservation of lncRNAs during rice domestication and will further promote functional studies of lncRNAs in rice.     

大学生求学满意度实证研究--某高校学生个体特征对满意度单项要素的影响分析

求学满意度，又称为求学满意程度，它取决于教育需求主体对教育服务的预期同其实际所感知的教育服务水平的对比。教学计划、教学组织、教师教学、教学设施、校园环境、学生5知识技能等都是影响求学满意度的因素。本文在调查取得基本数据的基础上，使用相关的统计检验方法，分析了性别、生源地和不同年级这些学生个体地征对求学满意度单项要素的影响。主要结论有：学生性别差异对满意度单项要素的影响基本是随机的；不同生源地的学生对教学计划和管理制度两个要素的评价具有差异；不同年级的学生对教学设施和知识掌握程度的评价具有显著性差异；学生对学校服务评价单项因素差异很少，总体满意度在一定程度上反应学校的实际情况。     

Variation among and within mountain birch trees in foliage phenols,carbohydrates, and amino acids,and in growth ofEpirrita autumnata larvae

Leaf quality of the mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp.tortuosa) for herbivores was studied at several hierarchical levels: among trees, among ramets within trees, among branches within ramets, and among short shoots within branches. The experimental units at each level were chosen randomly. The indices of leaf quality were the growth rate of the larvae of a geometrid,Epirrita autumnata, and certain biochemical traits of the leaves (total phenolics and individual phenolic compounds, total carbohydrates and individual sugars, free and protein-bound amino acids). We also discuss relationships between larval growth rate and biochemical foliage traits. Larval growth rates during two successive years correlated positively at the level of tree, the ramet, and the branch, indicating that the relationships in leaf quality remained constant between seasons both among and within trees. The distribution of variation at different hierarchical levels depended on the trait in question. In the case of larval growth rate, ramets and short shoots accounted for most of the explained variation. In the case of biochemical compounds, trees accounted for most of the variance in the content of total phenolics and individual low-molecular-weight phenolics. In the content of carbohydrates (total carbohydrates, starch, fructose, glucose, and sucrose) and amino acids, variation among branches was generally larger than variation among trees. Variation among ramets was low for most compounds. No single leaf trait played a paramount role in larval growth. Secondary compounds, represented by phenolic compounds, or primary metabolites, particularly sugars, may both be important in determining the suitability of birch leaves for larvae. If phenols are causally more important, genet-specific analyses of foliage chemistry are needed. If sugars are of primary importance, within-genet sampling and analysis of foliage chemistry are necessary.