Does one ever really laugh at one's own expense? The case of Jews and Arabs in Israel.

Investigated the problem of self-aimed humor by examining the case of Jews and Arabs in Israel. Study 1, with 80 Jewish and 60 Arab high school seniors, dealt with preferences of jokes. Ss were asked to rate the funniness of 5 jokes with a Jewish butt and 5 jokes with an Arab butt. Jews preferred jokes with an Arab butt, as did the Arabs who felt positively toward Israel, but not those whose attitudes were negative. Study 2, with 139 Jewish and 111 Arab high school seniors, dealt with the production of humor. Ss were asked to respond humorously to 13 cartoonlike drawings depicting an Arab and a Jew in conversation. Both Jews and Arabs expressed more aggression toward an Arab butt. When humorous answers toward the Ss themselves and toward subgroups within each group were compared, no differences between Jews and Arabs were found. The only difference found was in a special kind of self-aimed humor, in which aggression is turned inward but the situation is denied, and the S finds a humorous way to benefit from it. Jews used this kind of humor more often. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Chronic opioid treatment induces adenylyl cyclase V superactivation. Involvement of Gbetagamma

It has been known for some time that chronic treatment of neuronal cells and tissues with opioids, contrary to their acute effect, leads to an increase in cAMP accumulation. This phenomenon, defined as adenylyl cyclase superactivation, has been implicated in opiate addiction, yet the mechanism by which it is induced remains unclear. Here, we show that this phenomenon can be reproduced and studied in COS-7 cells cotransfected with adenylyl cyclase type V and mu-opioid receptor cDNAs. These cells display acute opioid inhibition of adenylyl cyclase activity, whereas prolonged exposure to the mu-agonist morphine or [-Ala2, N-methyl-Phe4, Gly-ol5]enkephalin leads to a time-dependent superactivation of adenylyl cyclase. This superactivated state is reversible, because it is gradually lost following agonist withdrawal. Adenylyl cyclase superactivation can be prevented by pertussis toxin pretreatment, indicating the involvement of Gi/o proteins, or by cotransfection with the carboxyl terminus of beta-adrenergic receptor kinase or with alpha-transducin (scavengers of Gbetagamma dimers), indicating a role for the G protein betagamma dimers in adenylyl cyclase superactivation. However, contrary to several other Gbetagamma-dependent signal transduction mechanisms (e.g. the extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2/MAP kinase pathway), adenylyl cyclase superactivation is not affected by the Ras dominant negative mutant N17-Ras.     

Childhood chronic inflammatory demyelinating neuropathies: clinical course and long-term follow-up

Chronic inflammatory demyelinating neuropathy (CIDP) is a rare disease in childhood. We reviewed the clinical characteristics, response to therapy, and long-term prognosis in 13 children (1.5 to 16 years of age) diagnosed with CIDP at Washington University Medical Center, St. Louis, and the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia, between 1979 and 1994. The most common presenting symptom (in 11/13 [85%]) was lower extremity weakness associated with difficulty in walking. Preceding events within 1 months of onset, mostly intercurrent infections or vaccinations, occurred in seven children (54%). The disease was monophasic in three children (23%). One relapse occurred in four (30%) and multiple relapses in six (46%). All patients had at least short-term response to steroids. Three children (23%) recovered completely during the first year. Ten children (77%) had residual weakness after an average follow-up of 6 years. There seems to be two populations of children with CIDP. One subgroup, with a favorable prognosis, progressed to peak disability over less than 3 months; these children often have a monophasic course with complete resolution of symptoms and signs and withdrawal from all medications by 1 year after onset. A second subgroup progressed for 3 months or longer; these children all required substantial does of prednisone for prolonged periods and had considerable long-term morbidity with persistent weakness.     

Towards an evaluation framework for knowledge management systems

In this paper we develop an evaluation framework for Knowledge Management Systems (KMS). The framework builds on the theoretical foundations underlying organizational Knowledge Management (KM) to identify key KM activities and the KMS capabilities required to support each activity. These capabilities are then used to form a benchmark for evaluating KMS. Organizations selecting KMS can use the framework to identify gaps and overlaps in the extent to which the capabilities provided and utilized by their current KMS portfolio meet the KM needs of the organization. Other applications of the framework are also discussed.

An empirical study of IT as a factor of production: The case of Net-enabled IT assets

A great deal of research in the information systems field has focused on the link between IT and firm-level outputs, like productivity and performance. This paper critically examines the economic assumptions and methodological approaches that underlie much of this work. Three important issues and gaps are identified. First, the functional form of the relationship between IT and firm-level outputs has been inconsistently specified, or overlooked. Second, multiple input and output variables are often arbitrarily combined. Third, the characteristics of IT as a factor of production have not been tested in the era of Net-enabled IT assets. This paper sheds light on these issues by analyzing an appropriate dataset in a two-stage process. In the first stage, data envelopment analysis (DEA) is employed in order to derive a meaningful measure for IT productivity from a compilation of input and output variables. This measure is treated as a dependent variable in a multivariate regression analysis during the second stage. The paper confirms the diminishing marginal productivity and input substitutability of IT for the sub-category of Net-enabled IT assets.     

Rest-activity rhythm of the blind mole rat Spalax ehrenbergi under different lighting conditions

The mole rat is a solitary, subterranean and photoperiodic rodent. We investigated its rest activity behavior under several lighting conditions, complemented our observations with light-induced c-fos expression, and compared the activity behavior of two chromosomal forms (2n = 58 and 60). The 26 mole rats had a clear overall preference for activity in the light or dark period, but prolonged recordings in five individuals showed that the initial preference was not stable in the nocturnal animals, they became diurnal. A 6-h advance of the light-dark (LD) cycle induced a shift of activity and the previous LD preference was reestablished. The large daily variability of activity onset did not allow this study to determine whether the animals were entrained to the LD cycle upon release into constant darkness (DD) or whether activity had been masked by light. The period of the motor activity rhythm in DD free ran in more than 50% of the animals. No differences in activity were observed between the two karyotypes. Immunohistochemistry for c-fos expression in the nucleus suprachiasmaticus at different circadian times showed that c-fos was induced only in animals exposed to a 1-h light pulse during the subjective night, but not during the subjective day or in control animals in the absence of a light pulse. The large intra- and inter-individual variability in daily motor activity both in LD and in DD suggest only a weak photic entrainment of the circadian clock to light of approximately 100 lux, and possibly a weak regulation of behavior by the circadian clock.     

A monoclonal antibody to oestradiol potentiates the stimulation of the specific activity of the brain type creatine kinase by oestrogen in vivo and in vitro

We described previously the in vivo immunoneutralization effects of a high affinity anti-oestradiol antibody clone 15 in blocking ovulation and synaptic remodeling in cycling female rats. In the present study we report the enhancing effects of this antibody. Treatment of ovariectomized female rats or female derived skeletal cell cultures in vitro with anti-E2 15 plus oestrogen (E2) potentiated the specific activity of the brain type creatine kinase (CK) response to E2 in the rat tissues or skeletal cells. The enhancing CK response of anti E2 15 plus E2 was time- and dose-dependent in the uterus, thymus, epiphysis and diaphysis of ovariectomized female rats. In the pituitary, on the other hand, anti-E2 15 blocked the stimulatory CK response to E2. Two other high affinity anti-E2 antibodies, clones 8D9 and 11B6, had no effect in augmenting the response of CK to E2 in rat tissues. Moreover, the enhancing CK response in rat tissues was specific to anti-E2 15 plus E2 since the intact anti-E2 in the presence of other oestrogen mimetics, such as oestriol or stilbestrol or tamoxifen did not potentiate the CK response in rat tissues. In this model system the Fab' monomer of anti-E2 15 abolished the CK response to E2 in rat tissues and not to anti-E2 15 plus E2 whereas tamoxifen completely blocked the CK response to anti E2 plus E2. Anti E2 15 may therefore serve as a specific carrier in delivering E2 to oestrogen sensitive rat tissues or cells containing functional oestrogen receptors and thereby increasing the magnitude of E2 effects in vivo and in vitro.     

What do you do when asked to answer humorously?

250 12th-grade and male Jewish and Arab students were given a modified version of the Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration Study. They were asked to answer this questionnaire twice: (a) ordinarily (as if they were present in the situation) and (b) humorously (as amusingly as possible). When ordinary and humorous answers were compared, it was found that humorous answers contained more expressions of high aggression and fantasy denials. Ordinary answers contained low aggression and rational denials. Humorous answers manifested the use of special techniques as specified by Freud: displacement, representation by the opposite, play on words, absurdity, and fantasy. Results show that Ss applied clear rules when answering with humor. They used more aggression, more sex, and more fantasy and they used Freud's techniques as if they had read his writings. Results are discussed by contrasting incongruity explanations with motivational explanations. Results do not support Freud's cathartic hypothesis. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Origin of an insular population of the wood mouse based on parasitological evidence

Parasitological data were used to test the hypothesis that the wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) population of Fair Isle, Shetland, originated from the British Isles rather than Scandinavia, as is usually argued. This study was based on the assumption that the mice were likely to share most of their parasite fauna with conspecifics from their ancestral home. The ecto- and endo-parasites of wood mice on Fair Isle between 18 June to 10 July 1987 and 17 to 26 August 1991 were identified and compared with those reported from conspecifics in the two putative source areas. All eight species of metazoan parasites that infected A. sylvaticus on Fair Isle were common to mice of the British Isles, whereas just one parasite on Fair Isle, a mite, had been recorded from Scandinavia. This lends support to the hypothesis that the mice originated from Britain rather than Scandinavia.