17 research outputs found
A word in a word: social perceptions of expletive-infixation
No full textDespite being one of the most ‘offensive’ swearwords in the English language, fuck (and its various derivations) is also, paradoxically, one of the most frequently uttered swearwords (Beers Fägersten 2012). A possible reason for this is that fuck can express a range of different pragmatic functions (McEnery & Xiao 2004) and social meanings (see Author 1, 2022 for a review), depending on language-external factors such as speaker gender (DeFrank & Kahlbaugh, 2019). Comparatively underexplored is the role of language-internal factors in the social meanings of fuck. This chapter examines the effect of expressive morphology (Zwicky & Pullum 1987), in the form of infixation, on how fuck is socially evaluated. The research aims to inform our understanding of how the social meanings associated with particular words can depend on their form and integration with other words. The chapter details a visual matched-guise task in which 139 participants rated hypothetical speakers on scales of funny, sarcastic, happy, and rude. Results suggest that the presence and well-formedness of swearing infixation influenced responses across all scales. The chapter discusses these findings in relation to previous work linking the attribution of social meanings like funny to a word’s structural markedness (Dingemanse & Thompson 2020)
Molecular Mechanisms of Fear Learning and Memory
No full textPavlovian fear conditioning is a particularly useful behavioral paradigm for exploring the molecular mechanisms of learning and memory because a well-defined response to a specific environmental stimulus is produced through associative learning processes. Synaptic plasticity in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala (LA) underlies this form of associative learning. Here, we summarize the molecular mechanisms that contribute to this synaptic plasticity in the context of auditory fear conditioning, the form of fear conditioning best understood at the molecular level. We discuss the neurotransmitter systems and signaling cascades that contribute to three phases of auditory fear conditioning: acquisition, consolidation, and reconsolidation. These studies suggest that multiple intracellular signaling pathways, including those triggered by activation of Hebbian processes and neuromodulatory receptors, interact to produce neural plasticity in the LA and behavioral fear conditioning. Collectively, this body of research illustrates the power of fear conditioning as a model system for characterizing the mechanisms of learning and memory in mammals and potentially for understanding fear-related disorders, such as PTSD and phobias
Trichocline maxima Less., Linnaea
No full text<i>Trichocline maxima</i> Less., Linnaea 5: 290. 1830. <p> <b>Type:</b> BRAZIL. “ <i>Brasilia meridionalis</i>. s.l., s.d., <i>Sellow s.n.</i> ”. (Lectoype, designated here K-504286 [image!]; Isolectotypes G-308259 [image!], HAL-113007 [image!], P-703278 [image!]).</p> <p>Figs. 1, 2.</p> <p> Perennial, scapose herbs with rosulate leaves, up to 85 cm high. Xylopodium up to 12.5 cm long, more or less cylindrical. Leaves petiolate; petiole 2–7 cm long, blade 20–30 <i>×</i> 3–4 cm, obovate or oblanceolate, base attenuated to cuneate, apex acute or obtuse, margin entire or lobate, lobes (when present) 3–5-paired, 0.5–3 cm long, rounded, glabrous, papyraceous. Floral scape 45–80 cm long, erect, ebracteate, glabrescent to glabrous. Involucres 2–3 <i>×</i> 1.5–2.5 cm, hemispheric, phyllaries 5–8-seriate, adaxial surface tomentose; outer 6–7 <i>×</i> 5–7 mm, ovate, apex obtuse to acute, adaxial surface woolly; middle ovate-lanceolate, 9–12 <i>×</i> 4–6 mm, apex obtuse, tomentose on the adaxial surface; inner 13–16.5 <i>×</i> 4–6.5 mm, ovate-lanceolate, apex acute, glabrous. Florets dimorphic; ray florets female, uniseriate, yellow, outer conspicuous, spreading, apices very short 3-toothed, inner of two long linear spiraled lobes, ca. 25, corolla bilabiate-liguliform, yellow, tube 7–10 mm long, abaxial lip 10–21 <i>×</i> 2.5–3 mm, linear to lanceolate, tomentose, adaxial lip ca. 4.5 mm long, staminodes 5, 3–4 mm long, apex acute, base attenuate or sagittate; style 8–12 mm long, style branches ca. 1 mm long; disc florets bisexual, corolla bilabiate-tubulose yellow, tube 11.7–14.5 mm long, abaxial lip 3-toothed, 3–4 mm long, recurvate, adaxial lip 2-toothed, 3–3.5 mm long, anthers 9.4–12 mm long, basal appendages papillose, style 17.5–19 mm long, style branches ca. 1 mm long. Achenes ca. 1 cm long, cylindrical or ovoid; twin hairs densely set; pappus uniseriate, 13–15.7 mm long, bristles barbellate.</p> <p> <b>Distribution and ecology:</b> South Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul State) and Uruguay (Fig. 3). The species inhabits rocky outcrops and sandy soiled grasslands at low elevation areas of the Pampean phytogeographic province (Cabrera & Willink 1973). Previous studies indicated that the species was probably extinct in Brazil (Zardini 1975; Pasini & Ritter 2012), and in fact, the only three records in this country were made almost 190 years ago; one of them is the type specimen that was indicated by Lessing (1830), and is located at K, G, HAL and P. The other two collections were cited by Malme (1931) as follows: “ <i>Inter</i> Rio Pardo <i>et</i> Bagé (<i>F. Sellow</i> 1831); <i>etiam ab Isabelle lecta, loco non indicato</i> (<i>A. Isabelle</i> 1835)”, of which we were not able to find. The species records in Uruguay are also scarce and are restricted to the northern region of the country (Departments of Rivera and Tacuarembó), which shares the same floristic characteristics with the southern extreme of Brazil (State of Rio Grande do Sul). Prior to our rediscovery, the latest record was almost 70 years ago (<i>Osorio s.n.</i> MVM 13902). We could track the species habitat, following the information of its records from Uruguay, and locate it in the department of Tacuarembó, Paso Ataques. The subpopulation was found in shrubby grassland with rocky outcrops and sandy soil. The species habitat is extremely endangered due to human impact, like intensive silviculture and uncontrolled use of grazing. In fact, the whole population was surrounded by <i>Eucaliptus</i> sp. plantation.</p> <p> <b>Phenology:</b> The species bloom from late December to March.</p> <p> <b>Conservation status:</b> We consider the species Critically Endangered (CR) by the IUCN’s (2011) categories, according to the following criteria and subcriteria: A 4 (c) (e); B 2 a: A 4. We project that the subpopulations suffered from a drastic size reduction in the last 100 years, due to decline of habitat quality. This could be related to the human impacts along the species range areas. There are vast areas of <i>Pinus</i> spp. plantation in northern Uruguay, which for the genus <i>Trichocline</i> as a whole, could lead to local extinctions. Besides that, this particular species presents a large floral scape and conspicuous ray florets, and can be easily spotted in nature, a fact that could potentially be related to its exploitation for ornamental purposes; B 2 a – the total extent of occurrence of the species was severely fragmented by the agricultural and silvicultural systems. Furthermore, the only register of the species in Brazil is from almost 200 years ago.</p> <p> <b>Taxonomy and lectotypification:</b> Christian Friedrich Lessing described <i>Trichocline maxima</i> in 1830, using a collection of Friedrich Sellow from Brazil. This botanist first collected the species around the year 1820 in the “Plata” region, which today is comprised by the territories of South Brazil (State of Rio Grande do Sul), Uruguay and northeast Argentina. Plenty of information is lacking from some of the species collected by this botanist during his stay in South America, in particular for Brazil. Some of his informations written on the herbarium sheets are difficult to decipher, and different localities are often informed in the same syntypes material. All of this is because the botanist had a tragic and early death in Brazil and therefore could not complete the information for each collection made by him. During the revision of the digitalized material of the genus <i>Trichocline</i>, we could identify three syntypes of this species, one in K, one in G and another in P, all collected by Sellow. In the labels of some of them, the indicated locality is simply <i>Brasilia</i> (Brazil) (e.g. G-308259), which is in accordance with the protologue of the species in Lessing (1830), however in some other specimens the locality <i>Brasilia meridionalis</i> is cited (e.g. K-504286). We do not believe this is a significant difference that indicates that the syntypes were collected in different places and times, and therefore we consider they all belong to the same collection. In addition to that, by the time Sellow collected the species, the borders between Uruguay and Brazil were not the same as today, therefore it could have been first collected in Uruguay.</p> <p>Since the author did not specified which specimen is the holotype, we chose the one deposited in K as the lectotype (K-504286). This specimen is the one that is most informative and well preserved.</p> <p> <i>Trichocline maxima</i> is a conspicuous scapose herb that can be easily distinguished from the other species of the genus by its smooth and glabrous 55–80 cm long floral scape, ovate phyllaries and glabrous leaves. During the vegetative stage, <i>T. maxima</i> can be misidentified by <i>Trichocline cisplatina</i> E. Pasini & Ritter, another Uruguayan species that also presents glabrous leaves with lobate margin and rounded lobes, however the second one has lobes bending backwards and form secondary lobes. The epithet <i>T. maxima</i> refers to the species large scape.</p> <p> <b>Additional examined material:</b> BRAZIL. RIO GRANDE DO SUL: s.l., 1835, <i>A. Isabelle s.n.</i> (K, n.s.). URUGUAY. RIVERA: Paso Ataques, I.1944, <i>J. Chebataroff 9112</i> (LP); XII.1945, <i>A. Lombardo 4570</i> (MVJB); 22.IV.2014, <i>E. Pasini, J.M. Bonifacino, F.P. Torchelsen 1019</i> (ICN 178180); Rincón de La Laguna, 14.II.1947, <i>H. Osorio s.n.</i> (MVM 13902).</p>Published as part of <i>Pasini, Eduardo, Bonifacino, José Maurício & Torchelsen, Fábio Piccin, 2021, Trichocline maxima (Compositae, Mutisieae) a rare Pampean daisy rediscovered after 70 years in Uruguay, pp. 1-6 in Iheringia, Série Botânica (e 2021006) (e 2021006) 76</i> on pages 2-5, DOI: 10.21826/2446-82312021v76e2021006, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/10627148">http://zenodo.org/record/10627148</a>
Stability of presynaptic vesicle pools and changes in synapse morphology in the amygdala following fear learning in adult rats
No full textSynapses lacking astrocyte appear in the amygdala during consolidation of pavlovian threat conditioning
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Polyribosomes Redistribute from Dendritic Shafts into Spines with Enlarged Synapses during LTP in Developing Rat Hippocampal Slices
No full textAbstractThe presence of polyribosomes in dendritic spines suggests a potential involvement of local protein synthesis in the modification of synapses. Dendritic spine and synapse ultrastructure were compared after low-frequency control or tetanic stimulation in hippocampal slices from postnatal day (P)15 rats. The percentage of spines containing polyribosomes increased from 12% ± 4% after control stimulation to 39% ± 4% after tetanic stimulation, with a commensurate loss of polyribosomes from dendritic shafts at 2 hr posttetanus. Postsynaptic densities on spines containing polyribosomes were larger after tetanic stimulation. Local protein synthesis might therefore serve to stabilize stimulation-induced growth of the postsynaptic density. Furthermore, coincident polyribosomes and synapse enlargement might indicate spines that are expressing long-term potentiation induced by tetanic stimulation
Shifting patterns of polyribosome accumulation at synapses over the course of hippocampal long-term potentiation
No full textCYFIP1 Coordinates mRNA Translation and Cytoskeleton Remodeling to Ensure Proper Dendritic Spine Formation
No full textThe CYFIP1/SRA1 gene is located in a chromosomal region linked to various neurological disorders, including intellectual disability, autism, and schizophrenia. CYFIP1 plays a dual role in two apparently unrelated processes, inhibiting local protein synthesis and favoring actin remodeling. Here, we show that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)-driven synaptic signaling releases CYFIP1 from the translational inhibitory complex, triggering translation of target mRNAs and shifting CYFIP1 into the WAVE regulatory complex. Active Rac1 alters the CYFIP1 conformation, as demonstrated by intramolecular FRET, and is key in changing the equilibrium of the two complexes. CYFIP1 thus orchestrates the two molecular cascades, protein translation and actin polymerization, each of which is necessary for correct spine morphology in neurons. The CYFIP1 interactome reveals many interactors associated with brain disorders, opening new perspectives to define regulatory pathways shared by neurological disabilities characterized by spine dysmorphogenesis
