How to activate threat perceptions in behavior research: A simple technique for inducing health and resource scarcity threats.

Understanding our cognitive and behavioral reactions to large-scale collective problems involving health and resource scarcity threats, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, helps us be better prepared for future collective threats. However, existing studies on these threats tend to be restricted to correlational data, partly due to a lack of reliable experimental techniques for manipulating threat perceptions. In four preregistered experiments (N = 5152), we developed and validated an experimental technique that can separately activate perceptions of personal health threat or resource scarcity threat, either in the specific context of the COVID-19 pandemic or in general. We compared the threat manipulations to a relaxation manipulation designed to deactivate background threat perceptions as well as to a passive control condition. Confirmatory tests showed substantial activation of personal health and resource scarcity threat perceptions. This brief technique can be easily used in online experiments. Distress due to the threat manipulation was rarely reported and easily managed with a debriefing toolkit.

Religion, parochialism and intuitive cooperation.

Religions promote cooperation, but they can also be divisive. Is religious cooperation intuitively parochial against atheists? Evidence supporting the social heuristics hypothesis (SHH) suggests that cooperation is intuitive, independent of religious group identity. We tested this prediction in a one-shot prisoner's dilemma game, where 1,280 practising Christian believers were paired with either a coreligionist or an atheist and where time limits were used to increase reliance on either intuitive or deliberated decisions. We explored another dual-process account of cooperation, the self-control account (SCA), which suggests that visceral reactions tend to be selfish and that cooperation requires deliberation. We found evidence for religious parochialism but no support for SHH's prediction of intuitive cooperation. Consistent with SCA but requiring confirmation in future studies, exploratory analyses showed that religious parochialism involves decision conflict and concern for strong reciprocity and that deliberation promotes cooperation independent of religious group identity. PROTOCOL REGISTRATION: The Stage 1 protocol for this Registered Report was accepted in principle on 28 January 2020. The protocol, as accepted by the journal, can be found at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.12086781.v1 .

Contextualised strong reciprocity explains selfless cooperation despite selfish intuitions and weak social heuristics.

Humans frequently cooperate for collective benefit, even in one-shot social dilemmas. This provides a challenge for theories of cooperation. Two views focus on intuitions but offer conflicting explanations. The Social Heuristics Hypothesis argues that people with selfish preferences rely on cooperative intuitions and predicts that deliberation reduces cooperation. The Self-Control Account emphasizes control over selfish intuitions and is consistent with strong reciprocity-a preference for conditional cooperation in one-shot dilemmas. Here, we reconcile these explanations with each other as well as with strong reciprocity. We study one-shot cooperation across two main dilemma contexts, provision and maintenance, and show that cooperation is higher in provision than maintenance. Using time-limit manipulations, we experimentally study the cognitive processes underlying this robust result. Supporting the Self-Control Account, people are intuitively selfish in maintenance, with deliberation increasing cooperation. In contrast, consistent with the Social Heuristics Hypothesis, deliberation tends to increase the likelihood of free-riding in provision. Contextual differences between maintenance and provision are observed across additional measures: reaction time patterns of cooperation; social dilemma understanding; perceptions of social appropriateness; beliefs about others' cooperation; and cooperation preferences. Despite these dilemma-specific asymmetries, we show that preferences, coupled with beliefs, successfully predict the high levels of cooperation in both maintenance and provision dilemmas. While the effects of intuitions are context-dependent and small, the widespread preference for strong reciprocity is the primary driver of one-shot cooperation. We advance the Contextualised Strong Reciprocity account as a unifying framework and consider its implications for research and policy.

WITHDRAWN: Profiles in Comparative Endocrinology: Carl B. Schreck Howard Bern Lecturer, Annual Meeting of Society of Integrative and Comparative Endocrinology, Seattle, January 5, 2010.

This article has been withdrawn at the request of the editor. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. The full Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal can be found at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy.

FMRFamide-like peptides in root knot nematodes and their potential role in nematode physiology.

FMRFamide-like peptides (FLPs) are a diverse group of neuropeptides that are expressed abundantly in nematodes. They exert potent physiological effects on locomotory, feeding and reproductive musculature and also act as neuromodulators. However, little is known about the specific expression patterns and functions of individual peptides. The current study employed rapid amplification of cDNA ends-polymerase chain reaction (RACE-PCR) to characterize flp genes from infective juveniles of the root knot nematodes, Meloidogyne incognita and Meloidogyne minor. The peptides identified from these transcripts are sequelogs of FLPs from the free-living nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans; the genes have therefore been designated as Mi-flp-1, Mi-flp-7, Mi-flp-12, Mm-flp-12 and Mi-flp-14. Mi-flp-1 encodes five FLPs with the common C-terminal moiety, NFLRFamide. Mi-flp-7 encodes two copies of APLDRSALVRFamide and APLDRAAMVRFamide and one copy of APFDRSSMVRFamide. Mi-flp-12 and Mm-flp-12 encode the novel peptide KNNKFEFIRFamide (a longer version of RNKFEFIRFamide found in C. elegans). Mi-flp-14 encodes a single copy of KHEYLRFamide (commonly known as AF2 and regarded as the most abundant nematode FLP), and a single copy of the novel peptide KHEFVRFamide. These FLPs share a high degree of conservation between Meloidogyne species and nematodes from other clades, including those of humans and animals, perhaps suggesting a common neurophysiological role which may be exploited by novel drugs. FLP immunoreactivity was observed for the first time in Meloidogyne, in the circumpharyngeal nerve ring, pharyngeal nerves and ventral nerve cord. Additionally, in situ hybridization revealed Mi-flp-12 expression in an RIR-like neuron and Mi-flp-14 expression in SMB-like neurons, respectively. These localizations imply physiological roles for FLP-12 and FLP-14 peptides, including locomotion and sensory perception.

Inhibition of host gene expression associated with plant virus replication.

Pea seed-borne mosaic virus (PSbMV) RNA replication in pea cotyledonary tissues was restricted largely to a zone of cells close to the infection front. In situ hybridization probes representing nine genes from two pathways of metabolism failed to detect RNA transcripts within this zone, although transcripts were found in similar amounts in tissues on either side of the zone. Thus, in common with some animal viruses, PSbMV transiently suppresses the expression of host genes. Host protein accumulation was also affected. These observations provide insights into virus-plant interactions and symptom expression.

Schistosoma mansoni cercariae experience influx of macromolecules during skin penetration.

We have observed that when cercariae penetrate the skin of mice, there is influx into their tissues of Lucifer Yellow and certain labelled molecules of up to 20 kDa molecular weight. This observation was made using a variety of fluorescent membrane-impermeant compounds injected into the skin before the application of cercariae. This unexpected phenomenon was investigated further by transforming cercariae in vitro in the presence of the membrane-impermeant compounds and examining the distribution by microscopy. In schistosomula derived from this procedure, the nephridiopore and surface membrane were labelled while the pre- and post-acetabular glands were not labelled. The region associated with the oesophagus within the pharyngeal muscle clearly contained the fluorescent molecules, as did the region adjacent to the excretory tubules and the germinal mass. We used cercariae stained with carmine to aid identification of regions labelled with Lucifer Yellow. Although the mechanism of this influx is unclear, the observation is significant. From it, we can suggest an hypothesis that, during skin penetration, exposure of internal tissues of the parasite to external macromolecules represents a novel host-parasite interface.

A Model for Seed Transmission of a Plant Virus: Genetic and Structural Analyses of Pea Embryo Invasion by Pea Seed-Borne Mosaic Virus.

Pea seed-borne mosaic virus (PSbMV), a seed-transmitted virus in pea and other legumes, invades pea embryos early in development. This process is controlled by maternal genes and, in a cultivar that shows no seed transmission, is prevented through the action of multiple host genes segregating as quantitative trait loci. These genes control the ability of PSbMV to spread into and/or multiply in the nonvascular testa tissues, thereby preventing the virus from crossing the boundary between the maternal and progeny tissues. Immunocytochemical and in situ hybridization studies suggested that the virus uses the embryonic suspensor as the route for the direct invasion of the embryo. The programmed degeneration of the suspensor during embryo development may provide a transient window for embryo invasion by the virus and could explain the inverse relationship between the age of the mother plant for virus infection and the extent of virus seed transmission.

A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative research on the role and effectiveness of written information available to patients about individual medicines.

OBJECTIVES: To establish the role and value of written information available to patients about individual medicines from the perspective of patients, carers and professionals. To determine how effective this information is in improving patients' knowledge and understanding of treatment and health outcomes. DATA SOURCES: Electronic databases searched to late 2004, experts in information design, and stakeholder workshops (including patients and patient organisations). REVIEW METHODS: Data from selected studies were tabulated and the results were qualitatively synthesised along with findings from the information design and stakeholder workshop strands. RESULTS: Most people do not value the written information they receive. They had concerns about the use of complex language and poor visual presentation and in most cases the research showed that the information did not increase knowledge. The research showed that patients valued written information that was tailored to their individual circumstances and illness, and that contained a balance of harm and benefit information. Most patients wanted to know about any adverse effects that could arise. Patients require information to help decision-making about whether to take a medicine or not and (once taking a medicine) with ongoing decisions about the management of the medicine and interpreting symptoms. Patients did not want written information to be a substitute for spoken information from their prescriber. While not everyone wanted written information, those who did wanted sufficient detail to meet their need. Some health professionals thought that written information for patients should be brief and simple, with concerns about providing side-effect information. They saw increasing compliance as a prime function, in contrast to patients who saw an informed decision not to take a medicine as an acceptable outcome. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of a quantitative and qualitative review, an exploration of best practice in information design, plus the input of patients at stakeholder workshops, allowed this review to look at all perspectives. There is a gap between currently provided leaflets and information which patients would value and find more useful. The challenge is to develop methods of provision flexible enough to allow uptake of varying amounts and types of information, depending on needs at different times in an illness. This review has identified a number of areas where future research could be improved in terms of the robustness of its design and conduct, and the use of patient-focused outcomes. The scope for this research includes determining the content, delivery and layout of statutory leaflets that best meet patients' needs, and providing individualised information, which includes both benefit and harm information. In particular, studies of the effectiveness and role and value of Internet-based medicines information are needed.

Seed transmission of plant viruses: a lesson in biological complexity.

Seed transmission of plant viruses results from the three-way interplay of the genetic components of the virus, the maternal host and its progeny. The challenge is to use genetic and cell biological analyses, integrated with our knowledge of plant reproduction and embryo development, to dissect this complex and rather poorly understood process.

A Spatial Analysis of Physiological Changes Associated with Infection of Cotyledons of Marrow Plants with Cucumber Mosaic Virus.

Changes in host primary metabolism associated with the compatible interaction between cucumber mosaic virus and cotyledons of the marrow plant (Cucurbita pepo L.) have been localized, first by measuring activities of key enzymes in infected and uninfected regions of the cotyledon, and second by histochemical techniques applied to tissue prints of the infected region. A series of progressive metabolic changes occurs within the expanding infected lesion. Virus replication and the synthesis of viral protein at the periphery creates a strong sink demand associated with increased activities of anaplerotic enzymes, increased photosynthesis, and starch accumulation. Inside the lesion, when the synthesis of virus has declined, photosynthesis is reduced, starch is mobilized, and the emphasis of metabolism is shifted toward glycolysis and mitochondrial respiration. These changes are associated spatially with the onset of chlorosis. A decrease in total protein synthesis in this inner zone could be instrumental in some or all of these changes, leading to symptoms of viral infection.

Aiding Lay Decision Making Using a Cognitive Competencies Approach.

Two prescriptive approaches have evolved to aid human decision making: just in time interventions that provide support as a decision is being made; and just in case interventions that educate people about future events that they may encounter so that they are better prepared to make an informed decision when these events occur. We review research on these two approaches developed in the context of supporting everyday decisions such as choosing an apartment, a financial product or a medical procedure. We argue that the lack of an underlying prescriptive theory has limited the development and evaluation of these interventions. We draw on recent descriptive research on the cognitive competencies that underpin human decision making to suggest new ways of interpreting how and why existing decision aids may be effective and suggest a different way of evaluating their effectiveness. We also briefly outline how our approach has the potential to develop new interventions to support everyday decision making and highlight the benefits of drawing on descriptive research when developing and evaluating interventions.

Larval development of the pedunculate barnacles Octolasmis angulata Aurivillius 1894 and Octolasmis cor Aurivillius 1892 (Cirripedia: Thoracica: Poecilasmatidae) from the gills of the mud crab, Scylla tranquebarica Fabricius, 1798.

Detailed studies of larval development of Octolasmis angulata and Octolasmis cor are pivotal in understanding the larval morphological evolution as well as enhancing the functional ecology. Six planktotrophic naupliar stages and one non-feeding cyprid stage are documented in details for the first time for the two species of Octolasmis. Morphologically, the larvae of O. angulata and O. cor are similar in body size, setation patterns on the naupliar appendages, labrum, dorsal setae-pores, frontal horns, cyprid carapace, fronto-lateral gland pores, and lattice organs. Numbers of peculiarities were observed on the gnathobases of the antennae and mandible throughout the naupliar life-cycle. The setation pattern on the naupliar appendages are classified based on the segmentation on the naupliar appendages. The nauplius VI of both species undergoes a conspicuous change before metamorphosis into cyprid stage. The cyprid structures begin to form and modify beneath the naupliar body towards the end of stage VI. This study emphasises the importance of the pedunculate barnacle larval developmental studies not only to comprehend the larval morphological evolution but also to fill in the gaps in understanding the modification of the naupliar structures to adapt into the cyprid life-style.

Evidence for proteolytic processing of tobacco mosaic virus movement protein in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Two ecotypes of Arabidopsis thaliana were transformed with the gene encoding tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) movement protein (P30). P30 accumulated largely in a subcellular fraction containing cell wall components and as a soluble protein. The protein migrated in denaturing gels with an M(r) of 30K, significantly faster than P30 (M(r) approximately 34K) accumulating after expression in transgenic tobacco, Escherichia coli or Spodoptera frugiperda cells, or after virus multiplication in tobacco. The P30 from A. thaliana infected with TMV for 14 days comigrated with that from E. coli, but that from A. thaliana infected for 49 days was of the smaller size. The use of antisera specific for the N- or C-termini of P30 showed that in A. thaliana P30 was proteolytically processed at the N-terminus, a region essential for P30 function. The failure of these plants to complement a TMV P30 mutant indicated that processed P30 was nonfunctional, although the processing was not so rapid that it prevented the development of systemic infections with wild type TMV. The absence of detectable P30 phosphorylation in A. thaliana demonstrated that phosphorylation was not essential for movement protein function and suggested that this species may use proteolytic cleavage of the N-terminus as an alternative strategy to tobacco for deactivating P30.

Localisation, quantitation, and characterisation of neuropeptide F- and FMRFamide-immunoreactive peptides in turbellarians and a monogenean: a comparative study.

Over the past decade it has become clear that the nervous systems of platyhelminths are both complex and highly developed, particularly in peptidergic elements. The central position of an ancestral flatworm in the evolution of the Bilateria has placed a greater importance on the study of modern flatworms. Using antisera generated to the C-terminal region of platyhelminth neuropeptide F and the molluscan neuropeptide, FMRFamide, in immunocytochemistry at both light and ultrastructural levels, immunoreactivities have been localised within the nervous systems of three species of triclad turbellarians, Dugesia lugubris, Dendrocoelum lacteum, and Polycelis nigra, and one species of monogenean trematode, Diclidophora merlangi. Extensive immunostaining was obtained with both antisera throughout the central and peripheral nervous systems of all species studied, but intensity and abundance was significantly greater in the turbellarians. Indirect electron-immunogold labeling demonstrated that immunoreactivity to both neuropeptides was often colocalised in neurosecretory vesicles, although discrete populations of vesicles were also observed. Radioimmunoassay of extracts of all species confirmed that neuropeptide F immunoreactivity was consistently more abundant than FMRFamide immunoreactivity, and that the levels of both in the three turbellarians were several orders of magnitude greater than those found in the monogenean. Chromatographic analyses of turbellarian extracts revealed that neuropeptide F and FMRFamide immunoreactivities were attributable to different peptides. These data imply that the neuropeptidergic systems systems of turbellarians are considerably more extensive than those of monogeneans, and would suggest that a regression has occurred in the latter as a consequence of the adoption of a mere sedentary parasitic lifestyle.

Neuromusculature of the ovijector of ascaris suum (Ascaroidea, nematoda): an ultrastructural and immunocytochemical study.

This study used electron microscopy and confocal scanning laser microscopy interfaced with cytochemistry to study neuromuscular interrelationships in the ovijector of Ascaris suum. An extensive nerve plexus with both FaRPergic and non-FaRPergic components extends over the outer surface of the ovijector. The non-FaRPergic component is derived from nerve branches of the ventral nerve cord, whereas the FaRPergic component emanates from two large FMRFamide-immunoreactive neurons. In the vagina vera, most myofibrils are circular in orientation and a number of them divide and run for short distances in longitudinal and diagonal directions, their myofilaments are also orientated in a variety of directions. Parallel nerve fibres run in tracts along the length of the vagina vera with branches that penetrate the muscle layers. The vagina uteri possesses a thicker hypodermis than that of the vagina vera. It appears rich in secretory and phagocytic vesicles and the luminal side is invested with an electron-dense substance. The musculature of the vagina uteri is less well developed than that of the vagina vera, being restricted to circular myofibrils, with an apparent diagonal arrangement of myofilaments. Also, the innervation is less extensive in the vagina uteri with many fibres returning to the vagina vera to rejoin the nerve net and others continuing into the uteri.

Comparative study of the spatial relationship between nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase activity, serotonin immunoreactivity, and GYIRFamide immunoreactivity and the musculature of the adult liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica (Digenea, fasciolidae).

This is the first detailed description of the nitrergic nervous system in a fluke. In this study, the authors analysed the distribution of the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase (NADPH-d) reactivity in neuronal and nonneuronal tissues of the adult fluke Fasciola hepatica and compared this with the distribution of the musculature using tetramethylrhodamine isothiocyanate-phalloidin. To assess the correlation between the number of muscle cells in different parts of the fluke and the NADPH-d-stained cells, the nuclei were stained with Hoechst 333 42, which is specific for chromatin. The spatial relation between the NADPH-d-positive nerves and the 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin; 5-HT)-immunoreactive (-IR) and GYIRFamide-IR nervous elements was also examined. The methods complement each other. NADPH-d-positive staining occurs in both in neuronal tissue and nonneuronal tissue. Large, NADPH-d-stained neurones were localised in the nervous system. The oral and ventral suckers are innervated with many large NADPH-d-stained neurones. In addition, the NADPH-d staining reaction follows closely the muscle fibres in both the suckers, in the body, and in the ducts of the reproductive organs. The presence of NADPH-d activity along muscle fibres in F. hepatica and in other flatworms supports a possible myoinhibitory role for nitric oxide. Neuronal nitric oxide synthase in flatworms may form a novel drug target, which would facilitate the development of a novel anthelminthic.

Peptides related to the Diploptera punctata allatostatins in nonarthropod invertebrates: an immunocytochemical survey.

The allatostatins are a family of peptides isolated originally from the cockroach, Diploptera punctata. Related peptides have been identified in Periplaneta americana and the blowfly, Calliphora vomitoria. These peptides have been shown to be potent inhibitors of juvenile hormone synthesis in these species. A peptide inhibitor of juvenile hormone biosynthesis has also been isolated from the moth, Manduca sexta; however, this peptide has no structural homology with the D. punctata-type allatostatins. Investigations of the phylogeny of the D. punctata allatostatin peptide family have been started by examining a number of nonarthropod invertebrates for the presence of allatostatin-like molecules using immunocytochemistry with antisera directed against the conserved C-terminal region of this family. Allatostatin-like immunoreactivity (ALIR) was demonstrated in the nervous systems of Hydra oligactis (Hydrozoa), Moniezia expansa (Cestoda), Schistosoma mansoni (Trematoda), Artioposthia triangulata (Turbellaria), Ascaris suum (Nematoda), Lumbricus terrestris (Oligochaeta), Limax pseudoflavus (Gastropoda), and Eledone cirrhosa (Cephalopoda). ALIR could not be demonstrated in Ciona intestinalis (Ascidiacea). These results suggest that molecules related to the allatostatins may play an important role in nervous system function in many invertebrates as well as in insects and that they also have an ancient evolutionary lineage.

FMRFamide-related peptides in potato cyst nematodes.

This study presents data demonstrating the presence of FMRFamide-related peptides (FaRPs) in potato cyst nematodes (PCN). Five transcripts of FaRP encoding genes, designated gpflp-1 to gpflp-5, were characterised using RACE. In terms of ORFs, gpflp-1 was 444 base pairs (bp) long and coded for four copies of the FaRP, PF3 (KSAYMRFamide) whilst gpflp-2 was 309 bp long and encoded one copy of the peptide, KNKFEFIRFamide. gpflp-3 (420 bp) Encoded two copies of KHEYLRFamide (AF2) and the genes gpflp-4 and gpflp-5 encoded a total of 11 FaRPs, most of which are novel to PCN. FMRFamide-related peptide (FaRP)-like immunoreactivity was observed in both PCN species, Globodera pallida and Globodera rostochiensis, using an antiserum raised against the invertebrate peptide, FMRFamide. Immunopositive neurones were found throughout the central nervous system in the ventral and dorsal nerve cords and the circumpharyngeal and perianal nerve rings. Reactive neurones were also present peripherally, innervating the highly muscular pharynx with a nerve net and ring-like structures. Positive immunostaining was also observed in neurones running toward the stylet protractor muscles and/or the anterior sensory apparatus. This study implicates a role for FaRPs in feeding, host penetration and sensory function of PCN. This is the first study to characterise FaRP encoding genes from a plant-parasitic nematode using a targeted PCR based RACE approach and further underlines the importance and diversity of this neuropeptide group in the phylum Nematoda.

Structural characterisation and pharmacology of KHEYLRFamide (AF2) and KSAYMRFamide (PF3/AF8) from Haemonchus contortus.

The FMRFamide-related peptides (FaRPs), KHEYLRFamide (AF2) and KSAYMRFamide (PF3) were structurally characterised from the parasitic nematode of sheep, Haemonchus contortus (MH isolate). Both peptides were sequenced in a single gas-phase sequencing run and their structure confirmed by mass spectrometry which identified peptides of 920 Da (C-terminally amidated AF2) and 902/918 Da (C-terminally amidated non-oxidised/oxidised PF3, respectively). AF2 had inhibitory effects on H. contortus muscle and inhibited acetylcholine (ACh, 10 microM)-induced contractions, with a threshold for activity of 1 microM. PF3 induced concentration-dependent contractions of H. contortus (activity threshold, 10 nM) and enhanced ACh contractions. Compared with the MH isolate, an isolate of H. contortus which has reduced sensitivity to cholinergic drugs (Lawes isolate) was less sensitive to the effects of PF3. The concentration-response curves for the cholinergic compounds ACh and levamisole (LEV), and PF3, but not a control, KPNFIRFamide (PF4), showed a statistically similar shift. This study implicates PF3 in the modulation of cholinergic function in H. contortus.