747 research outputs found
The development of self–other overlap from childhood to adolescence
No full textThis study aimed to clarify the developmental course of self–other overlap from mid-childhood to late adolescence. Results showed that the development of self–other overlap varied across relationship type: whereas self–stranger overlap increased, overlap with mother, father, friend, and classmate all decreased, with that for parents decreasing most
Nostalgia and satisfaction with life: A behavioral genetic analysis
No full textNostalgia, a bittersweet but predominantly positive emotion, arises from self-relevant and social memories. Evidence suggests that nostalgia is a potential source of happiness. Indeed, at the phenotypic level, this relation appears to be positive albeit tenuous. At the etiologic level, the relation is unknown. To fill this knowledge gap, we investigated the phenotypic and genetic association between nostalgia and satisfaction with life (SWL). We assessed nostalgia and SWL in 464 twin siblings, including 117 monozygotic twin pairs and 115 dizygotic twin pairs. By comparing monozygotic twins to dizygotic twins, we analyzed the genetic and environmental effects on nostalgia and SWL simultaneously. We observed a small positive association between nostalgia and SWL (r
phenotypic = 0.12), with this association being strengthened after neuroticism was partialled out (r
phenotypic = 0.17). More importantly, nostalgia and SWL shared some environmental (but not genetic) sources (r
non-shared environment = 0.21), which accounted for the majority (88%) of their phenotypic association. Taken together, the findings support a positive relation between nostalgia and SWL, and further uncover the bases underlying this relation. The study adds to the burgeoning literature on nostalgia and well-being.
</p
Patterns of brain activity associated with nostalgia: A social-cognitive neuroscience perspective
No full textNostalgia arises from tender and yearnful reflection on meaningful life events or important persons from one's past. In the last two decades, the literature has documented a variety of ways in which nostalgia benefits psychological well-being. Only a handful of studies, however, have addressed the neural basis of the emotion. In this prospective review, we postulate a neural model of nostalgia. Self-reflection, autobiographical memory, regulatory capacity and reward are core components of the emotion. Thus, nostalgia involves brain activities implicated in self-reflection processing (medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus), autobiographical memory processing (hippocampus, medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus), emotion regulation processing (anterior cingulate cortex and medial prefrontal cortex) and reward processing (striatum, substantia nigra, ventral tegmental area and ventromedial prefrontal cortex). Nostalgia's potential to modulate activity in these core neural substrates has both theoretical and applied implications.</p
Communal narcissism: social decisions and neurophysiological reactions
No full textCommunal narcissists claim a saintly status, but are they fairer than non-narcissists? In Study 1, high (vs. low) communal narcissists did not make more equitable offers and were not more likely to reject unequitable offers in an ultimatum game. However, they reported being more altruistic, judging fairness as a more important moral value, and being more morally outraged at unfairness. Their self-views did not match their behavior. These results were replicated in Study 2, where in addition high (vs. low) communal narcissists exhibited larger P3 amplitudes to inequitable (than equitable) offers, suggesting that they were more emotionally sensitive to unfairness. Their neurophysiological reactions did not match their behavior. The findings clarify the construct of communal narcissism
5HTTLPR polymorphism is associated with nostalgia proneness: the role of neuroticism
No full textNostalgia, a sentimental longing for the past, is a self-relevant and social emotion. Nostalgia proneness is associated with alleviation of distress or instability (e.g., neuroticism). Although nostalgia proneness is heritable, the specific molecular contributors to this heritability are unknown. We focused on a polymorphism in the promoter of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) as a possible biological basis of nostalgia proneness, because the serotonin system has been associated with sensitivity to negative experience. Participants (N = 397 adults) who had reported levels of nostalgia proneness were genotyped. A subsample also completed a measure of neuroticism. Participants with the 5-HTTLPR short allele were higher on nostalgia proneness than those without this allele. Neuroticism mediated the relation between 5-HTTLPR and nostalgia proneness. These findings enrich our understanding of the genetic and personality underpinnings of nostalgia
Nostalgia enhances detection of death threat: neural and behavioral evidence
No full textAbstract An experiment examined the potency of nostalgia—a sentimental longing for one’s past—to facilitate detection of death-related stimuli, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and behavioral techniques (i.e., judgmental accuracy, reaction times). We hypothesized and found that, at the neural level, nostalgic (relative to control) participants evinced more intense activation in right amygdala in response to death-related (vs. neutral) words. We also hypothesized and found that, at the behavioral level, nostalgic (relative to control) participants manifested greater accuracy in judging whether two death-related (vs. neutral) words belonged in the same category. Exploratory analyses indicated that nostalgic (relative to control) participants did not show faster reaction times to death-related (vs. neutral) words. In all, nostalgia appeared to aid in death threat detection. We consider implications for the relevant literatures
The heritability of implicit self-esteem: A twin study
No full text
In a twin sample (117 monozygotic and 115 dizygotic twin pairs), we assessed implicit self-esteem by using the implicit association test (IAT). Results showed that implicit self-esteem was heritable with substantial environmental influences. The heritability of implicit self-esteem suggests that it is a fundamental individual difference. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.</p
On structure of bivariate spline space of lower degree over arbitrary triangulation
No full textAbstractThe structure of bivariate spline space over arbitrary triangulation is complicated because the dimension of a multivariate spline space depends not only on the topological property of the triangulation but also on its geometric property. A new vertex coding method to a triangulation is introduced in this paper to further study structure of the spline spaces. The upper bound of the dimension of spline spaces over triangulation given by L.L. Schumaker is slightly improved via the new vertex coding method. The structure of multivariate spline spaces S21(▵) and S31(▵) over arbitrary triangulation are studied via the method of smoothness cofactor and the structure matrix of multivariate spline ring by Luo and Wang. A kind of sufficient conditions on judging non-singularity of the S21(▵) and S31(▵) spaces over arbitrary triangulation is given, which only depends on the topological property of the triangulation. From the sufficient conditions, a triangulation strategy is presented at the end of the paper. The strategy ensures that the constructed triangulation is non-singular (or generic) for S21 and S31
Hydrolysis inhibition of complex biowaste
No full textThe increasing demand of renewable energy sources and reuse of wastes, challenges our society for better technological solutions for energy production. Co-digestion of agricultural biowaste, such as animal manure and plant residues, offers an interesting contribution to the renewable energy strategies. The biogas plants, where the complex substrates, such as agricultural biowaste, get converted into biogas, are then able to produce electricity and heat, which can be used in the farm and delivered to the main electricity grid. Moreover, due to its decentralised nature, the implementation of small-scale biogas plants can supply renewable energy to people without the need for large-scale infrastructural networks such as electricity grids, thereby solving part of the populations’ energy demands. The production of biogas from complex biowaste is rate-limited by the hydrolysis step of the anaerobic digestion process. However the hydrolysis step has been poorly described and not very well understood, resulting in non-optimized anaerobic digester volumes. Due to that, a review on the anaerobic hydrolysis step is in this thesis presented, together with ways to accelerate the hydrolysis, either by mitigating the revealed inhibiting compounds, by pre-treating difficultly hydrolysable substrates, or as is nowadays also applied, by adding hydrolytic enzymes to full scale biogas co-digestion plants. In this thesis two compounds were studied in terms of its inhibiting effect on hydrolysis: ammonia nitrogen and Humic Matter (HM). Ammonia nitrogen did not show an inhibiting effect on anaerobic hydrolysis. On the other hand Humic acids-like (HAL) and Fulvic acids-like (FAL) extracted from fesh cow manure and silage maize, and in this thesis extensively described in terms of its chemical characteristics, showed a strong inhibiting effect on the hydrolysis step. Plant matter is high in lignocellulosic biomass. Lignocellulosic biomass consists of lignin, which is resistant to anaerobic degradation, cellulose and hemicelluloses. Pre-treatment of plant material, is particularly important in order to increase biogas production during co-digestion of manure. Calcium hydroxide pre-treatment was shown, in this thesis, to improve the biodegradability of lignocellulosic biomass, especially for high lignin content substrates. Maleic acid generated the highest percentage of dissolved COD during pre-treatment, however its high market price makes it not so attractive as calcium hydroxyde. Enzyme addition has recently gained the attention of biogas plants’ operators in order to accelerate hydrolysis, however further research is needed. <br/
Wang Shuo and the commercialisation of contemporary Chinese culture
No full textThis thesis examines the commercialisation of Chinese culture that has taken place over the past twenty years in mainland China. It explores the contribution of Wang Shuo, a cultural figure who straddles different fields of culture, moving from literature to the ultimate mass culture medium of television, this study plots Wang Shuo' s development from educational failure, to business failure, to fiction writer, film & TV editor, film director and cultural critic and analyst. His stories, films, TV series and articles have caused shock-waves throughout national cultural circles as he has transformed the terms of the debate from academic discourse to a validation of the role of the market in the culture field. Although Wang Shuo has not been labelled as a dissident, his approach to the culture market has had a more subversive effect on official ideology that those overt dissidents who have had to live in exile or have been imprisoned. He has utilised the language of official ideology to satirise the authorities, turning the ideology and its supporters into figures of fun. Yet his own goals have been strictly personal and economic ones. The authorities recognize the value of Wang Shuo's work in the cultural market but at the same time distrust his works and place him under strict censorship. Examining the way Wang Shuo and people surround him have succeeded in different fields of cultural achievement is a mirror to understanding the process of the transformation of contemporary Chinese culture from a socialist state-controlled culture to a market-oriented mass culture industry
- …
