Role of impulsivity in the relationship between depression and alcohol problems among emerging adult college drinkers.

Depression is common among college students and higher levels of depression are associated with greater alcohol-related problems. However, depression is frequently not found to be directly associated with more alcohol use. This study examined whether various aspects of impulsivity (negative urgency, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, sensation seeking, and delay discounting) and drinking to cope with negative affect help to account for the relationship between depression and alcohol problems among emerging adult college drinkers who reported at least a minimal level of depressive symptoms. In this cross-sectional study, 143 emerging adult (between 18 and 25 years old) female (69.9%, n = 100) and male (30.1%, n = 43) college drinkers with at least minimal depressive symptoms completed measures of depression, alcohol use and problems, drinking to cope, and impulsivity. A multiple mediation analysis revealed that only negative urgency and drinking to cope partially mediated the depression-alcohol problems relationship. Moderated mediation analyses revealed that impulsivity-related constructs did not significantly interact with drinking to cope to increase alcohol problems. It appears that alcohol use is particularly problematic for students with elevated depression, and this is partly attributable to depression's association with negative urgency, in addition to its association with drinking to cope. Our findings suggest that students who suffer from depression may engage in problematic drinking behavior in part because negative affect is detrimental to their short-term impulse control and decision making, independent of maladaptive attempts to regulate affect through drinking to cope. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Carcass and meat quality traits of wild boar (Sus scrofas. L.) with 2n=36 karyotype compared to those of phenotypically similar crossbreeds (2n=37 and 2n=38) raised under same farming conditions. 1. Carcass quantity and meat dressing

The aim of this study was to compare wild boar (chromosomal number 2n = 36) to phenotypically similar animals of 2n = 37 and 2n = 38 chromosomes (crossbreeds) with respect to live weight, carcass yield, meat yield, fat and weight of inner organs. All animals were born and raised on the same farm and slaughtered at 39 weeks. The final live weight of wild boar 2n = 36 was significantly lower (47.2 kg) as compared to crossbreeds (80.0 kg). Animals 2n = 36 had more carcass yields (65.5%) than 2n = 37 karyotype (64.9%) and 2n = 38 (64.4%). Wild boar had the highest yields for the cuts with bones and boneless cuts compared to crossbreeds. Therefore, variations in karyotype are accompanied by differences in some carcass quantitative traits, i.e., 2n = 36 grow and fatten slower than crossbreeds 2n = 37 and 2n = 38.     

How the brain responds to the destruction of money.

Is our attitude to money like that to any other tool even though its use is symbolic and is not implemented in its physical structure? Knowledge of the functional use of concrete tools, such as hammers or screwdrivers, has been associated with activation of a left hemisphere network including the posterior temporal cortex, supramarginal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, and lateral precuneus. Here we demonstrate that observing bank notes being cut up or torn, a critical violation of their function, elicits activation within the same temporo-parietal network. Moreover, this activation is the greater the higher the value of the banknote. This lends plausibility to a genuinely psychological interpretation of the explanation of money as a tool for parametrically symbolizing exchange. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Carcass and meat quality traits of wild boar (Sus scrofa s. L.) with 2n = 36 karyotype compared to those of phenotypically similar crossbreeds (2n = 37 and 2n = 38) raised under the same farming conditions 2: Fatty acid profile and cholesterol

The aim of this study was to compare European wild boar (Sus scrofa) with chromosomal number 2n = 36 to phenotypically similar animals with 2n = 37 and 2n = 38 chromosomes (crossbreeds) with respect to fatty acid (FA) profile and cholesterol content. According to gender and genetic group (2n = 36, 2n = 37, and 2n = 38; seven animals each), the FA profile in longissimus dorsi (LD), semimembranosus (SM) muscles, and back fat was measured. Cholesterol content of LD and SM muscles was also analysed. The animals were fed and reared under the same conditions until slaughter at the age of nine months. FA profiles of LD, SM, and back fat were measured by GC and cholesterol with HPTLC. SM muscle of wild boar group (2n = 36) showed a higher proportion of PUFAs and lower C16:0 and C18:0 than that of crossbreeds. No differences in the FA profiles of LD and cholesterol content of LD and SM muscles among karyotypes were found.     

Interactivist–constructivist foundations for embodying attention

This article discusses the increasing use of ideas from, and consistency with, the embodiment program in artificial intelligence (AI) and cognitive science. A model is embodied if it is (1) functionally grounded in behavioral regulation and (2) strongly constrained by both the physical and computational parameters of its implementation. The main goal of this is to put forward some dynamical foundations for embodying attention. A recent embodied model of attention is discussed in this context. It is shown that although the model's framework qualifies as embodied, its specific implementation does not. From here, its framework is used to develop a reconstruction of the model's dynamics, from which a new implementation which fits more closely into the embodiment program can be developed in the future. A general strategy of using dynamic considerations to constrain the development of embodied models is in this way advanced.