Evolutionary Analysis of Dipeptidyl Peptidase I

Human dipeptidyl peptidase I (DPPI) belongs to the family of papain-like cysteine peptidases. Its distinctive features are the unique exclusion domain which enables the eponymous activity and homotetramerization of DPPI, and its dependence on chloride ions for enzymatic activity. The oligomeric state of DPPI is unique in this family of predominantly monomeric peptidases. However, a distant DPPI ortholog from Plasmodium falciparum has been shown to be monomeric, indicating that the oligomeric state of DPPI varies between lineages. The aim of this work was to study the evolution of DPPI, with particular attention to the structural features that determine its characteristic enzymatic activity and preferences, and to reconstruct the evolution of its oligomerization. We analyzed fifty-seven selected sequences of DPPI and confirmed its presence in three lineages, namely, Amorphea (including animals and Amoebozoa), Alveolates and the metamonad Giardia. The amino acid residues that bind the chloride ion are highly conserved in all species, indicating that the dependence on chloride ions for activity is an evolutionarily conserved feature of DPPI. The number of N-glycosylation sites is significantly increased in animals, particularly vertebrates. Analysis of homology models and subunit contacts suggests that oligomerization is likely restricted to DPPIs in the Amorphea group.     

Broad and cutting-edge training in applied psychology: A clinical science perspective.

In discussing a clinical science perspective on the Commission on Accreditation's breadth requirements, we believe that rather than focusing on the acquisition of passive knowledge in areas that are beyond applied specialties, training should enhance students' inclination and ability to translate knowledge into clinical applications and research. Moreover, though breadth is important, so too is depth, both in terms of quantity of knowledge within a particular domain and in terms of the ability to think deeply about the material. We believe that flexible, customized training is superior to a one size fits all approach. To achieve and assess competence, ordinary survey courses and exams are not necessary, nor are they sufficient. We end by summarizing our recommendations and discussing their implications for the American Psychological Association's Commission on Accreditation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are schizophrenics' behaviors schizophrenic? What medically versus psychosocially oriented therapists attribute to schizophrenic persons.

Tested the hypothesis that the medical and psychosocial therapeutic models are differentially reflected in therapists' perception of and attributions to schizophrenics. 36 20–58 yr old hospital staff (medically oriented) and 23 23–52 yr old alternative-care staff (psychosocially oriented) participated in 2 structured interviews; orientations were ascertained by the Client Attitude Questionnaire. Ss were given 4 hypothetical case studies, 2 of schizophrenic individuals and 2 of normal individuals. Ss rated case study personalities and explained their normal behaviors, such as selling T-shirts or singing in the shower. Relative to the alternative-care staff, the hospital staff attributed less freedom of choice and less purposefulness to the behaviors of the schizophrenics. They were also more likely to explain schizophrenic target persons' behaviors in terms of an underlying illness, rather than as a response to situational factors. No differences between groups were found in the amount of similarity perceived between self and the schizophrenic cases or in the degree of global freedom of choice attributed to the schizophrenic cases. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Electrophysiological study of anomalous innervation of intrinsic hand muscles

The collision technique was used to study the incidence of anastomosis between median and ulnar nerves in the forearm (Martin-Gruber anastomosis). A motor anastomosis from median to ulnar nerve was found in 57 (17%) of 328 unselected subjects. The anomaly was bilateral in 39 subjects (68%) and unilateral in 18, nine on the right and nine on the left. Both hypothenar and thenar muscles were tested in 77 of 96 hands with the anastomosis (right and left sides combined). Both muscle groups were innervated by the communicating fibers in 63 hands (82%). Anomalous innervation was limited to hypothenar muscles in 13 and to thenar muscles in one hand. In contrast to the high incidence of the anastomosis from median to ulnar nerve, crossover from ulnar to median nerve in the forearm was found in none of 303 subjects tested.     

Local and Global Judgments of Confidence.

Studies of calibration have shown that people's mean confidence in their answers (local confidence) tends to be greater than their overall estimate of the percentage of correct answers (global confidence). Moreover, whereas the former exhibits overconfidence, the latter often exhibits underconfidence. Three studies present evidence that global underconfidence reflects a failure to make an allowance for correct answers that are likely to result from mere guessing and can be eliminated by informing participants of the dubious normative status of estimates below 50% (i.e., chance). Previously reported discrepancies between global and local confidence, it is concluded, arise less from possible methodological artifacts in assessment of local confidence than from normatively inappropriate assessments of global confidence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prognostic significance of spouse we talk in couples coping with heart failure.

Recent research suggests that marital quality predicts the survival of patients with heart failure (HF), and it is hypothesized that a communal orientation to coping marked by first-person plural pronoun use (we talk) may be a factor in this. During a home interview, 57 HF patients (46 men and 16 women) and their spouses discussed how they coped with the patients' health problems. Analysis of pronoun counts from both partners revealed that we talk by the spouse, but not the patient, independently predicted positive change in the patient's HF symptoms and general health over the next 6 months and did so better than direct self-report measures of marital quality and the communal coping construct. We talk by the patient and spouse did not correlate, however, and gender had no apparent moderating effects on how pronoun use predicted health change. The results highlight the utility of automatic text analysis in couple-interaction research and provide further evidence that looking beyond the patient can improve prediction of health outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Matching treatment to alcoholism subtypes.

In the field of alcoholism treatment, as in mental health treatment more generally, no one treatment model is equally effective for all patients and problem types. Literature in both alcohol treatment and in psychotherapy research suggests some relationships in common between treatment efficacy and patient coping style, drinking patterns, and family dynamics. This literature suggests that "internalizing" alcoholics, whose drinking tends to be steady and to be functionally interwoven with family dynamics, will benefit more from family systems oriented treatments than from symptom- or individually focused treatments. Conversely, "externalizing" alcoholics may derive more benefit from symptom-focused cognitive and behavioral treatments than from family systems treatment. An ongoing research project designed to test these hypotheses and the development of treatment manuals that may increase differential treatment efficacy is described. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Happiness and memory: Affective significance of endowment and contrast.

Three studies (two conducted in Israel and one in the United States) examined associations between self-rated dispositional happiness and tendencies to treat memories of positive and negative events as sources of enhanced or attenuated happiness through the use of “endowment” and “contrast.” Although participants generally endorsed items describing happiness-enhancing tendencies more than happiness-diminishing ones, self-reported happiness was associated with greater endorsement of “positive endowment” items and less endorsement of “negative endowment” items, and also with less endorsement of items that involved contrasting the present with happier times in the past. Only in the American sample, however, was happiness associated with greater endorsement of items that involved contrasting the present with less happy times in the past. These data suggest that relatively unhappy people show somewhat conflicting memorial tendencies vis-à-vis happiness, whereas very happy people show simpler, and less conflicting, tendencies. These findings augment the existing literatures on the affective consequences of memory, which have been concerned more with mood than with temperament and/or have dealt only with a subset of the endowment and contrast tendencies explored in the present work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Browning Potential,PPO, Catalase and Acid Phosphatase Activities during Ripening of Non-chilled and Chilled Avocado

During storage at 17°C, an increase in respiration and ethylene production and a decrease in firmness occurred sooner in avocados chilled previously than in non-chilled ones. The browning potential of avocado mesocarp changes markedly during ripening of both non-chilled and chilled fruits, reaching the same maximal level in both groups. However, non-chilled ripened avocados are characterised by a much lower browning potential than ripened chilled fruits. The changes in browning potential during ripening are associated with larger changes in polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and catalase than in acid phosphatase activities. The levels of PPO and of catalase detected during ripening are about the same in non-chilled and chilled avocado, yet the former produced much more ethylene than the latter, implying that the level of these enzymes per se does not determine the level of ethylene produced by the fruit.