Genetic Contribution of Endometriosis to the Risk of Developing Hormone-Related Cancers

Endometriosis is a common gynecological disorder that has been associated with endometrial, breast and epithelial ovarian cancers in epidemiological studies. Since complex diseases are a result of multiple environmental and genetic factors, we hypothesized that the biological mechanism underlying their comorbidity might be explained, at least in part, by shared genetics. To assess their potential genetic relationship, we performed a two-sample mendelian randomization (2SMR) analysis on results from public genome-wide association studies (GWAS). This analysis confirmed previously reported genetic pleiotropy between endometriosis and endometrial cancer. We present robust evidence supporting a causal genetic association between endometriosis and ovarian cancer, particularly with the clear cell and endometrioid subtypes. Our study also identified genetic variants that could explain those associations, opening the door to further functional experiments. Overall, this work demonstrates the value of genomic analyses to support epidemiological data, and to identify targets of relevance in multiple disorders.     

Reports for 1982 of the Regional Associations.

Reports for 1982 are listed for the following regional association meetings: Sixty-Second Annual Meeting of the Western Psychological Association; Fifty-Second Annual Meeting of the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association; Fifty-Fourth Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association; Twenty-Eighth Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association; Twenty-Eighth Annual Meeting of the Southwestern Psychological Association; Twenty-Second Annual Meeting of the New England Psychological Association; Fifty-Third Annual Meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association; and Seventy-Fourth Annual Meeting of the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Realism, idealization, and potential negative impact of 3D virtual relationships

One hundred and ninety-nine participants, each of whom was currently involved in an intimate relationship within the 3D virtual world of Second Life, completed measures assessing whether they (1) viewed their 3D virtual relationship as an exercise in fantasy or one that had a quality of realism, and (2) perceived the personality characteristics of their 3D partner in more positive or idealized terms than a current or recent real life partner. Additionally, 71 of the 199 participants (36%) who were concurrently involved in a real life romantic relationship as well as their Second Life relationship provided data regarding the potential negative impact of Second Life relationships on co-occurring real life relationships. Results indicated that (1) the majority of participants viewed their Second Life relationships as real rather than as a form of game-playing, (2) participants generally reported more positive or idealized personality traits for their Second Life partners compared to their real life partners, and (3) a portion of participants in co-occurring Second Life and real life relationships indicated that their virtual relationship served as an emotional competitor or potential threat to their real life relationship, with the potential for detrimental effects rising as the couple progressively adds non-immersive digital and physical channels of communication to the original 3D relationship.     

Binding, relational memory, and recall of naturalistic events: A developmental perspective.

This research was an investigation of children's performance on a task that requires memory binding. In Experiments 1 and 2, 4-year-olds, 6-year-olds, and adults viewed complex pictures and were tested on memory for isolated parts in the pictures and on the part combinations (combination condition). The results suggested improvement in memory for the combinations between the ages of 4 and 6 years but not in memory for the isolated parts. In Experiments 2 and 3, the authors also examined the developmental relationship between performance in the combination condition and free recall of a naturalistic event, finding preliminary evidence that performance on a memory task that requires binding is positively related to performance in episodic memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of Chemisorption and Physisorption of Water on the Surface Structure and Stability of alpha-Alumina

Chemisorption and physisorption of water onto the {0001}, {1011}, {1120}, and {2243} surfaces of alpha-alumina have been studied via atomistic simulation techniques, using potentials that have been verified against the structures of hydrated ß-alumina and diaspore. Both physisorption and chemisorption of all surfaces are energetically favorable, especially the hydroxylation of dipolar oxygen-terminated planes. The equilibrium morphology is calculated, as a way to assess the change in surface energies, and the equilibrium morphologies agree with the experimentally observed crystal morphologies. The calculated energies of both physisorption and chemisorption agree well with experimentally obtained hydration energies.     

A category adjustment approach to memory for spatial location in natural scenes.

Memories for spatial locations often show systematic errors toward the central value of the surrounding region. This bias has been explained using a Bayesian model in which fine-grained and categorical information are combined (Huttenlocher, Hedges, & Duncan, 1991). However, experiments testing this model have largely used locations contained in simple geometric shapes. Use of this paradigm raises 2 issues. First, do results generalize to the complex natural world? Second, what types of information might be used to segment complex spaces into constituent categories? Experiment 1 addressed the 1st question by showing a bias toward prototypical values in memory for spatial locations in complex natural scenes. Experiment 2 addressed the 2nd question by manipulating the availability of basic visual cues (using color negatives) or of semantic information about the scene (using inverted images). Error patterns suggest that both perceptual and conceptual information are involved in segmentation. The possible neurological foundations of location memory of this kind are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vertical dynamics of the Maglev vehicle Transrapid

The Maglev vehicle Transrapid is levitated by magnetic forces which pull the vehicles levitation frames toward the guideway from below. The magnets possess poles with alternating fluxes which are part of the synchronous long stator linear motor. Although the Transrapid glides along its guideway without mechanical contact, this alternation as well as the loading and unloading of the guideway girders excite vibrations of the ground. In order to calculate the time behavior of the vibrational emissions, a simulation of the transfer of a Transrapid vehicle over several guideway girders is proposed. The equations of motion for the vehicle and the girders are calculated separately by the MBS software NEWEUL and assembled and numerically integrated in MATLAB/SIMULINK. The control law for the magnet forces is simplified by the characteristics of linear spring-damper elements. The controlled magnet forces travel along the guideway continuously and include the dynamic component due to the alternating fluxes and the geometry of the poles and stator. Results of a complete vehicle moving along a guideway consisting of several girders can be obtained within a few minutes of computation time. Therefore, the mechanism of excitations can be analyzed by numerical time integration in the full state space. The results are validated by measurements of the forces in the joints of the guideway girders. The vibrational emission along the Transrapid guideway differs from the vibrations of contact-afflicted vehicles as no impacts and fewer stochastic effects occur.