Gastrin stabilises beta-catenin protein in mouse colorectal cancer cells.

As gastrin may play a role in the pathophysiology of gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies, the elucidation of the mechanisms governing gastrin-induced proliferation has recently gained considerable interest. Several studies have reported that a large percentage of colorectal tumours overexpress or stabilise the beta-catenin oncoprotein. We thus sought to determine whether gastrin might regulate beta-catenin expression in colorectal tumour cells. Amidated gastrin-17 (G-17), one of the major circulating forms of gastrin, not only enhanced beta-catenin protein expression, but also one of its target genes, cyclin D1. Furthermore, activation of beta-catenin-dependent transcription by gastrin was confirmed by an increase in LEF-1 reporter activity, as well as enhanced cyclin D1 promoter activity. Finally, G-17 prolonged the tau(1/2) of beta-catenin protein, demonstrating that gastrin appears to exert its mitogenic effects on colorectal tumour cells, at least in part, by stabilising beta-catenin.

Emotional intelligence as an aspect of general intelligence: what would David Wechsler say?

R. D. Roberts, M. Zeidner, and G. Matthews (2001) have carefully examined the controversial issue of whether emotional intelligence (EI) should be classified as an intelligence and whether EI's constructs meet the same psychometric standards as general intelligence's constructs. This article casts their efforts into the framework of both historical and modern IQ-testing theory and research. It details David Wechsler's attempts to integrate EI into his tests and how his conception of a good clinician would be that of an emotionally intelligent clinician. Current theories and research on IQ also have a role in EI beyond what Roberts et al. described, including J. L. Horn's (1989) expanded model and A. R. Luria's (1966) neuropsychological research, and better criteria than the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery should be used in future EI studies. The authors look forward to more research being conducted on EI, particularly in future performance-based assessments.

Human abilities.

This chapter reviews recent literature, primarily from the 1990s, on human abilities. The review opens with a consideration of the question of what intelligence is, and then considers some of the major definitions of intelligence, as well as implicit theories of intelligence around the world. Next, the chapter considers cognitive approaches to intelligence, and then biological approaches. It proceeds to psychometric or traditional approaches to intelligence, and then to broad, recent approaches. The different approaches raise somewhat different questions, and hence produce somewhat different answers. They have in common, however, the attempt to understand what kinds of mechanisms lead some people to adapt to, select, and shape environments in ways that match particularly well the demands of those environments.

A triarchical model of batting abilities: applying psychological statistics to baseball.

A triarchical model of batting ability in baseball (Power, Skill, and Speed) was hypothesized. Factor analysis of data obtained from 77 players on the four 1996 playoff teams produced three meaningful oblique factors, giving support to the proposed model. The factor structure and specific pattern of factor loading were quite stable as coefficients of congruence of .97 to .99 were obtained between factors extracted from separate analyses of the National League players (n = 38) and the American League players (n = 39).

The fluid and crystallized abilities of white, black, and Hispanic adolescents and adults, both with and without an education covariate.

Data from the standardization sample of the Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test (KAIT) were used to examine race/ethnic differences on the Horn-Cattell fluid and crystallized constructs. Samples included 768 individuals aged 11 to 24 years (575 White, 117 Black, 76 Hispanic) and 1,160 individuals aged 25 to 94 years (972 White, 124 Black, 64 Hispanic). Multivariate and univariate analyses were conducted, with and without an educational attainment covariate. Race/ethnic group was related significantly to performance on fluid and crystallized variables. Whites generally outscored Blacks and Hispanic on the diverse measures, namely, on tasks dependent on school learning (crystallized), and on those that reflect novel problem solving (fluid). These results maintained even with educational attainment covaried. Hispanics tended to perform better on fluid than on crystallized tests.

White-black and white-Hispanic differences on fluid and crystallized abilities by age across the 11- to 94-year range.

Standardization data for the Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test (KAIT) were used to examine white-black and white-Hispanic differences on the Horn-Cattell crystallized and fluid constructs at several age groups across the broad 11- to 94-year span. Samples included 1,547 white, 241 black, and 140 Hispanic persons. Multivariate analyses with educational attainment covaried yielded only one significant finding: the white-black difference on the Crystallized Famous Faces subtest became smaller with increasing age.

Examining the interaction of age x race pertaining to black-white differences at ages 15 to 93 on six Horn abilities assessed by K-FAST, K-SNAP, and KAIT subtests.

This study examined differences between black and white subjects on 6 abilities from Horn's Gf-Gc theory for 5 age groups between 15-19 and 55-93 years (total ns = 956 white and 128 black subjects). White respondents scored significantly higher on all 6 abilities, but differences on fluid reasoning and short-term apprehension and retrieval were less than .5 SD. Interactions of age x race were nonsignificant, indicating that the discrepancies between scores of black and white subjects did not vary as a function of age.

Exercise-induced enhancement of immune function in the rat.

BACKGROUND: There have been many anecdotal reports that regular, moderate exercise confers some protective immunity against infection. There has been little scientific evidence to support this. It is also unclear whether training alters lymphocyte trafficking from the spleen to the periphery after a bout of exhaustive exercise. METHODS AND RESULTS: To determine the effect of moderate training on in vivo antibody production, using rats as an animal model, we gradually trained 18 rats using a swimming protocol for a 4-week period after injection and booster with Keyhole limpet hemocyanin antigen. There were 9 age-matched controls. At the conclusion of training, both groups underwent a short-term exhaustive swim. The trained group showed marked enhancement of IgM and IgG production. After short-term exercise, both groups had acute lymphocytosis, mainly T(suppressor)/cytolytic and natural killer cells with decreases in T(helper) (trained), B cells, and the Th-to-Ts ratio. The changes in the splenocyte subsets were the opposite of the changes in the peripheral blood. With respect to function, after exhaustive exercise, there was a slight increase in mitogenesis and interleukin-2 receptor expression to concanavalin A (untrained more than trained) compared with controls. CONCLUSIONS: Regular, moderate training enhances antibody production to specific de novo antigen both early and late. In addition, short-term exercise leads to selective release of immune cells from the spleen and results in slightly enhanced function of splenocytes. Direct stimulation by the sympathetic nervous system and catecholamines is the proposed mechanism for the changes seen after short-term exercise and possibly antibody production during training.

Differential detection of viral DNA and RNA in situ in cells infected with human cytomegalovirus.

We have analyzed the ability to use in situ cytohybridization to distinguish between human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) DNA and RNA in human cells infected in vitro. Two different viral-specific probes were used, one for an abundantly expressed late gene, and one which includes at least two genes coding for immediate early (IE) proteins. In productively infected cells, hybridization of the late gene probe extended over both the nucleus and cytoplasm and was RNase sensitive, whereas hybridization of the IE probe was restricted to the nucleus and was DNase-sensitive. In nonproductively infected cells hybridization of the IE probe was localized to the cytoplasm and was RNase-sensitive. The specific nuclease sensitivities indicate that a cytoplasmic hybridization pattern correlates with detection of viral RNA sequences, whereas a nuclear pattern represents detection of viral DNA. These results demonstrate that in situ cytohybridization can potentially be used to determine the extent of HCMV infection in a particular tissue or cell type by distinguishing between transcription and replication of specific viral genes.