Interview with Ruth Lund Daddona

In this interview with Julia Stringfellow, Ruth Lund Daddona, Milwaukee-Downer College class of 1956, discusses her time as a student.https://lux.lawrence.edu/oralhistories/1026/thumbnail.jp

Introduction to General Psychology (Clayton State University)

This Grants Collection for Introduction to General Psychology was created under a Round Three ALG Textbook Transformation Grant. Affordable Learning Georgia Grants Collections are intended to provide faculty with the frameworks to quickly implement or revise the same materials as a Textbook Transformation Grants team, along with the aims and lessons learned from project teams during the implementation process. Documents are in .pdf format, with a separate .docx (Word) version available for download. Each collection contains the following materials: Linked Syllabus Initial Proposal Final Reporthttps://oer.galileo.usg.edu/psychology-collections/1002/thumbnail.jp

Stimulating a Response: Does Exposure to the Confederate Flag Impact People’s Attitudes Regarding Social Dominance Orientation, Ethnocultural Empathy, and their Political Beliefs?

Minimal psychological research has looked at whether priming participants with the Confederate flag impacts psychological functioning. The current study examined whether Confederate flag priming and people’s political orientation would account for various indicators of how people reconcile in-group/out-group divisions- social dominance orientation (SDO) and ethnocultural empathy (EE). Previous research noted that exposing people to the Confederate flag activates schemas resulting in biased judgments of out-group members (Becker, Enders-Comber, Wagner, Christ, & Butz, 2012; Callahan & Ledgewood, 2016; Kemmelmeier & Winter, 2008). Other studies noted that exposure to the Confederate flag changed voter’s preferences for political candidates, such as Barack Obama due to the activation of negative feelings towards Blacks (Ehrlinger et al., 2011). The current study builds from such work by examining the political attitudes of 194 participants enrolled in a midsized, primarily minority-serving university in the southern United States. Participants were exposed to 30 seconds of either the Confederate flag or a control group condition (an Olympic flag). After the exposure, participants’ attitudes towards SDO and EE were reported. Findings indicated that political ideology interacted with the flag condition and that the disparities were most pronounced when people of a particular political orientation were exposed to the Confederate rather than Olympic flag condition. Specifically, when exposed to the Confederate flag conservatives reported more SDO (i.e., less endorsement of group equality) and less EE (e.g., empathic feelings). By contrast, for liberals EE empathic awareness subscale scores were especially higher in the Confederate flag condition. Multiple main effects also emerged in which liberals generally reported lower SDO and higher EE than conservatives did (regardless of the flag priming). Implications concerning the current political climate in the U. S. and information shortcuts for potential voting behavior are also discussed

Control of adenosine deaminase levels in human lymphoblasts

High levels of adenosine deaminase (ADA) activity have been associated with normal T cell differentiation and T cell disease, such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia; however, possible mechanisms controlling the level of this enzyme have not been explored. In this study, the properties and rate of turnover of ADA are compared in cultured human T and B lymphoblast cell lines. (1) Relative to B lymphoblasts, the level of ADA activity i extracts of T lymphoblast cell lines (MOLT-4, RPMI-8402. CCRF-CEM and CCRF-HSB-2) is elevated 7- to 14-fold and differs by 2-fold among the T-cell lines. (2) In T and B lymphoblasts extracts, the enzyme is apparently identical based on Km for adenosine and deoxyadenosine, Ki for inosine, Vmax for adenosine, S20w, isoelectric pH, and heat stability. Further, by radioimmunoassay the quantity of ADA immunoreactive protein is proportional to the level of enzyme activity in all cell lines studies. (3) Using a purification and selective immunoprecipitation technique,the enzyme turnover could be assessed in cell lines labeled with [35S]methionine. The apparent rate of ADA synthesis, relative to total protein, is 2-fold faster in both T cell lines (RPMI-8402 and CCRF-CEM) than in the B cell lines (MGL-8 and GM-130). The apparent half-life (t1/2) for the enzyme degradation is 19 and 39 hr, respectively, for CCRF-CEM and RPMI-8402, while the t1/2 for both B cell lines is 7-9 hr. From the net rate of synthesis and degradation, the T cell lines exhibit a 6- and 12- fold difference in ADA turnover relative to B cells, consistent with the observed differences in enzyme activity. (4) The level of ADA (activity and/or protein) is cultured T or B lymphoblasts is not influenced by either substrates or products of the ADA reaction or an ADA inhibitor or a selected group of imunosupressive drugs added to these cells in culture.These studies indicate that while ADA is apparently identical in all T and B lymphoblasts, alterations in both the rate of ADA synthesis and degradation lead to its accumulation and high steady-state level in T cells.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/24100/1/0000357.pd

Analysis of normal and mutant forms of human adenosine deaminase — A review

A deficiency of the enzyme adenosine deaminase is associated with an autosomal recessive form of severe combined immunodeficiency disease in man. The molecular forms of the normal human enzyme have now been well characterized in an effort to better understand the nature of the enzyme defect in affected patients.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45343/1/11010_2004_Article_BF00220303.pd

Adenosine uptake sites in rat brain: Identification using [3H]nitrobenzylthioinosine and co-localization with adenosine deaminase

The binding characteristics of [3H]nitrobenzylthioinosine ([3H]NBI) to rat brain membrane preparations was examined, and the autoradiographic distribution of this ligand in brain sections was compared with the immunohistochemical localization of adenosine deaminase (ADA). It was found that [3H]NBI labels sites for which adenosine has far higher affinity than do other nucleosides, that these sites are heterogeneously distributed and that there is an exact correspondence between areas containing [3H]NBI sites and ADA-immunoreactive neurons. Our results indicate that [3H]NBI and ADA are potential markers for revealing anatomical sites at which actions of adenosine may be expressed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/25734/1/0000291.pd

Oxytocin: Crossing the Bridge between Basic Science and Pharmacotherapy

Is oxytocin the hormone of happiness? Probably not. However, this small nine amino acid peptide is involved in a wide variety of physiological and pathological functions such as sexual activity, penile erection, ejaculation, pregnancy, uterus contraction, milk ejection, maternal behavior, osteoporosis, diabetes, cancer, social bonding, and stress, which makes oxytocin and its receptor potential candidates as targets for drug therapy. In this review, we address the issues of drug design and specificity and focus our discussion on recent findings on oxytocin and its heterotrimeric G protein-coupled receptor OTR. In this regard, we will highlight the following topics: (i) the role of oxytocin in behavior and affectivity, (ii) the relationship between oxytocin and stress with emphasis on the hypothalamo–pituitary–adrenal axis, (iii) the involvement of oxytocin in pain regulation and nociception, (iv) the specific action mechanisms of oxytocin on intracellular Ca2+ in the hypothalamo neurohypophysial system (HNS) cell bodies, (v) newly generated transgenic rats tagged by a visible fluorescent protein to study the physiology of vasopressin and oxytocin, and (vi) the action of the neurohypophysial hormone outside the central nervous system, including the myometrium, heart and peripheral nervous system. As a short nine amino acid peptide, closely related to its partner peptide vasopressin, oxytocin appears to be ideal for the design of agonists and antagonists of its receptor. In addition, not only the hormone itself and its binding to OTR, but also its synthesis, storage and release can be endogenously and exogenously regulated to counteract pathophysiological states. Understanding the fundamental physiopharmacology of the effects of oxytocin is an important and necessary approach for developing a potential pharmacotherapy

Microneedle-based drug delivery systems: Microfabrication, drug delivery, and safety

Many promising therapeutic agents are limited by their inability to reach the systemic circulation, due to the excellent barrier properties of biological membranes, such as the stratum corneum (SC) of the skin or the sclera/cornea of the eye and others. The outermost layer of the skin, the SC, is the principal barrier to topically-applied medications. The intact SC thus provides the main barrier to exogenous substances, including drugs. Only drugs with very specific physicochemical properties (molecular weight < 500 Da, adequate lipophilicity, and low melting point) can be successfully administered transdermally. Transdermal delivery of hydrophilic drugs and macromolecular agents of interest, including peptides, DNA, and small interfering RNA is problematic. Therefore, facilitation of drug penetration through the SC may involve by-pass or reversible disruption of SC molecular architecture. Microneedles (MNs), when used to puncture skin, will by-pass the SC and create transient aqueous transport pathways of micron dimensions and enhance the transdermal permeability. These micropores are orders of magnitude larger than molecular dimensions, and, therefore, should readily permit the transport of hydrophilic macromolecules. Various strategies have been employed by many research groups and pharmaceutical companies worldwide, for the fabrication of MNs. This review details various types of MNs, fabrication methods and, importantly, investigations of clinical safety of MN