Search results for " flexibility"
showing 10 items of 142 documents
Foraging Bumblebees Selectively Attend to Other Types of Bees Based on Their Reward-Predictive Value.
2020
Using social information can be an efficient strategy for learning in a new environment while reducing the risks associated with trial-and-error learning. Whereas social information from conspecifics has long been assumed to be preferentially attended by animals, heterospecifics can also provide relevant information. Because different species may vary in their informative value, using heterospecific social information indiscriminately can be ineffective and even detrimental. Here, we evaluated how selective use of social information might arise at a proximate level in bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) as a result of experience with demonstrators differing in their visual appearance and in thei…
Bachelor groups form due to individual choices or environmental disrupters in African striped mice
2021
International audience; In several mammal species, bachelor groups occur as a regular life history stage between dispersal and becoming the breeding male of a multi-female group. However, it is rarely investigated how such groups come into existence and how males that choose this strategy differ in life history traits from other males. Males of the socially flexible African striped mouse Rhabdomys pumilio have been historically reported to adopt one of three alternative tactics, i.e., small group-living philopatric males, intermediate solitary living roaming males, or large group-living territorial males. Here, we describe for the first time, bachelors as a fourth male tactic. Using long-te…
A methodology for evaluating the flexibility potential of domestic air-conditioning systems
2020
The paper presents a methodology for quantifying the electrical flexibility potential of air-conditioning systems (ACS) installed in residential buildings according to the building envelope characteristics and the ACS performance. In order to provide a thorough analysis of the issue, the ACS baseline consumption referred to the indoor temperature of 24°C has been computed for three typical residential buildings built in the South of Italy over different periods. The baseline consumption was used as a reference to estimate the effect of the set point temperature change on the ACS power profile. The results showed that increasing the set-point temperature of ACS by 2°C and 4°C leads to a redu…
Early Cognitive Training Rescues Remote Spatial Memory but Reduces Cognitive Flexibility in Alzheimer’s Disease Mice
2020
Background: Spatial memory dysfunction has been demonstrated in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) which is consistent with the clinical finding that the early signature of AD includes difficulties in the formation and/or storage of a memory. A stored memory—a long term memory—can be modulated via process called as memory retrieval that can either lead toward memory reconsolidation or even memory extinction. Objective: We aim to shed light on the fate of the spatial memory during memory reactivation and memory extinction using a water maze task. Methods: In Set-up I, we trained 3-month-old mice (wild-type mice and mice with cerebral β-amyloidosis) and assessed the fate of remote memor…
Evaluating the stability of pharmacophore features using molecular dynamics simulations.
2016
Abstract Molecular dynamics simulations of twelve protein—ligand systems were used to derive a single, structure based pharmacophore model for each system. These merged models combine the information from the initial experimental structure and from all snapshots saved during the simulation. We compared the merged pharmacophore models with the corresponding PDB pharmacophore models, i.e., the static models generated from an experimental structure in the usual manner. The frequency of individual features, of feature types and the occurrence of features not present in the static model derived from the experimental structure were analyzed. We observed both pharmacophore features not visible in …
Contrasting coping styles meet the wall: A dopamine driven dichotomy in behavior and cognition
2017
Individual variation in the ability to modify previously learned behaviour is an important dimension of trait correlations referred to as coping styles, behavioral syndromes or personality. These trait clusters have been shaped by natural selection, and underlying control mechanisms are often conserved throughout vertebrate evolution. In teleost fishes, behavioral flexibility and coping style have been studied in the high (HR) and low-responsive (LR) rainbow trout lines. Generally, proactive LR trout show a behaviour guided by previously learned routines, while HR trout show a more flexible behaviour relying on environmental cues. In mammals, routine dependent vs flexible behavior has been …
Determinants for Tight and Selective Binding of a Medicinal Dicarbene Gold(I) Complex to a Telomeric DNA G-Quadruplex: a Joint ESI MS and XRD Investi…
2016
International audience; The dicarbene gold(I) complex [Au(9-methylcaffein-8-ylidene)(2)]BF4 is an exceptional organometallic compound of profound interest as a prospective anticancer agent. This gold(I) complex was previously reported to be highly cytotoxic toward various cancer cell lines invitro and behaves as a selective G-quadruplex stabilizer. Interactions of the gold complex with various telomeric DNA models have been analyzed by a combined ESI MS and X-ray diffraction (XRD) approach. ESI MS measurements confirmed formation of stable adducts between the intact gold(I) complex and Tel 23 DNA sequence. The crystal structure of the adduct formed between [Au(9-methylcaffein-8-ylidene)(2)]…
Examining the relationship between public speaking anxiety, distress tolerance and psychological flexibility
2020
Public speaking is an important skill for university students to learn and practice as they progress through education and into their careers. However, individuals often avoid facing public speaking, as they lack the skills to cope with the anxiety that arises when speaking in front of others. The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between public speaking anxiety, distress tolerance, and psychological flexibility. A sample of 95 college students completed psychological flexibility measures and self-ratings of public speaking anxiety before and after a public speaking challenge. A behavioral index of public speaking distress tolerance (i.e., speech duration) was also recorde…
A psychological flexibility -based intervention for burnout : A randomized controlled trial
2020
A novel eight-week program based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) principles was created to alleviate burnout-related ill-being and to enhance well-being. This randomized controlled trial investigated the effectiveness of the program and explored whether changes in psychological flexibility mediated the results of the intervention. The program consisted of structured weekly face-to-face group meetings and daily practices provided via a website. Employees from varying professional backgrounds with burnout (mean age = 47 years, 79% female), who all received usual treatment, 1 were randomized into control (TAU, n = 80, receiving no other support) and ACT + TAU intervention (n = 88, r…
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Health Behavior Change: A Contextually-Driven Approach.
2018
Promoting health behavior change presents an important challenge to theory and research in the field of health psychology. In this paper, we introduce a context-driven approach, the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) model which is built on Relational Frame Theory. The ACT-based intervention aims to promote individuals’ new health behavior patterns through the improvement of the key construct of psychological flexibility, which is defined as the ability to contact the present moment more fully with acceptance and mindfulness as a conscious human being. Building on the psychological flexibility model, implemented through the six core ACT processes, individuals improve maintenance of lon…