Omega-6:3 Ratio More Than Absolute Lipid Level in Diet Affects Associative Learning in Honey Bees

Floral pollen is a major source of honey bee nutrition that provides them with micro- and macro-nutrients, including proteins, fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals. Different pollens vary in composition, including in the essential fatty acids, alpha-linolenic acid (omega-3) and linoleic acid (omega-6). Monocultures, prevalent in modern agriculture, may expose honey bee colonies to unbalanced omega-6:3 diets. The importance of omega-3 in the diet for adequate learning and cognitive function, with a focus on suitable omega-6:3 ratio, is well documented in mammals. We have recently shown, for the first time in invertebrates, the importance of omega-3 in diets for associative learning ability in honey bees. In the current work, we examine the effect of the absolute amount of omega-3 in diet compared to the omega-6:3 ratio on honey bee associative learning. We fed newly emerged bees for 1 week on different artificial diets, which had lipid concentration of 1, 2, 4, or 8%, with omega-6:3 ratios of 0.3, 1, or 5, respectively. We then tested the bees in a proboscis-extension response olfactory conditioning assay. We found that both omega-6:3 ratio and total lipid concentration affected learning. The most detrimental diet for learning was that with a high omega-6:3 ratio of 5, regardless of the absolute amount of omega-3 in the diet. Bees fed an omega-6:3 ratio of 1, with 4% total lipid concentration achieved the best performance. Our results with honey bees are consistent with those found in mammals. Best cognitive performance is achieved by a diet that is sufficiently rich in essential fatty acids, but as long as the omega-6:3 ratio is not high.

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Conversation - Employees & Employers Negotiate (B2/C1)

One of the skills that I have most focused on in my classes is the oral one. Most part of the time, students want to SPEAK the language rather than just study its grammar (by answering some grammar exercises) in class.

Considering that speaking is developed by practice (that’s just my opinion), I developed some short activities that can be used by teachers in their EFL/ESL classes.

This one is meant to be used with B2 or C1 students.

PROCEDURE: Write the situation on the board

TIME: 30 to 40 minutes

TOPIC: business

SKILL: speaking

TEACHER’S ROLE: facilitator

Read the situation below and brainstorm with a partner a list of pints that both partners might want to include in a negotiation

Situation about the employees and employers:

IMAGINE A COMPANY. NOW, IMAGINE THAT THE COMPANY FINDS ITSELF IN ECONOMIC DIFFICULTY AND THEN EMPLOYEES HAVE ALREADY LOST THEIR JOBS. THE EMPLOYEES ARE UNHAPPY WITH EMPLOYMENT AND SALARY ISSUES.

Now, ask your students to reflect upon the following questions:  

WHY SHOULD EACH PARTY NEGOTIATE?

WHAT DOES EACH SIDE WANT TO ACHIEVE?

After the students have reflected upon the situation as well as discussed with their partners, ask them to share their thoughts on the topic. Then, divide the group into ‘employees’ and ‘employers’ and simulate the situation above.

Ask them to write short dialogues as well as practice them in pairs (or groups). Finally, when you feel that students should talk about negotiation, tell them to start a conversation in which they should use (some of) the structures/questions below:

I am willing to accept________ if ________.

I think we will have to agree with_________.

It would be an alternative to______________.

We can trade this against ________________.

Our intention is________________________.

I would like to_______________________.

We might like to____________________.

We must________________________.

Our main concern is __________________.

It is vital that __________________________.

We refuse to accept __________________________.

It is extremely important for us to include ____________.

How about ______________?

Do you feel that you can accept _______________?

How can we reach a compromise?

Could you tell us why you feel like that?

Shall we put this into a written proposal?

Can you offer us any other possibility?

And you can give them some production moment (I am considering the steps of the PPP approach) in which they are supposed to develop a role-play activity about negotiation (of any kind).

If you have enough time, you can ask your students to think about the last time they were involved in situation in which they were supposed to negotiate something.

HOW MUCH TIME DID THEY SPEND ON PREPARATION?

Ask them if they would prepare differently if they had to negotiate again.

  

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"This is Houston. Say again, please." "Uh, Houston, This 17-year-old could be the first human on Mars in 2033"

Alyssa Carson is a name people will most certainly remember. She’s currently training to be ONE OF THE FIRST PEOPLE TO GO TO MARS, specifically to build a colony there in a planned 2033 mission.

Are humans ever going to make it all the way to Mars? I have no idea, but this 17-year-old could be the first human on Mars. Is she going to make it?

When she was three years old, she watched a cartoon of people going to Mars in the series, The Backyardigans. “Daddy, I want to be an astronaut, and be one of the people that go to Mars”, she told her father.

Now, she laid out clearly what her ambitions are:

"I did the same thing as other kids, like switching my mind about careers, wanting to be a teacher or the president one day.  But the way I always thought about it was I would become an astronaut, go to Mars, come back, and then be a teacher or the president."

Currently, she is working hard on her training in a citizen science program that IS THE FIRST AND ONLY CREWED SUBORBITAL RESEARCH PROGRAM called PROJECT POSSUM.

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We Need to Talk about… Well, in Language Lessons We Only Have to Talk about Something

I was reading an article about life in other planets and I thought of warm-up (or pocket) activity on religion and the existence of extra-terrestrial intelligence.

It goes like this…

During a conversation course for C1 or C2 students, the teacher can start the lesson by asking students the question:

WOULD THE EXISTENCE OF EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE HAVE A PROFOUND IMPACT ON RELIGION, SHATTERING COMPLETELY THE TRADITIONAL PERSPECTIVE OF GOD'S SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH A MAN?

Right after asking them the question, the teacher could ask them to work pair (or in small groups) and try to say what they think about the topic after they had reflected upon. Ask them to say as much as possible about the existence of extra-terrestrial intelligence and how it would affect people’s lives here on Earth.  

I believe this is one way of providing students with some activities with the purpose of improving their oral abilities. Of course, the teacher must talk to the students about the topic and let make them aware of the purpose of the activity – after all, we don’t want our students to be offended by the questions I make. In some countries, however, this question should never be asked. So, make sure you know when you could use it and in doing so, you would avoid problems with you pupils.

Transcript: So one of my recent columns in Scientific American was called Sky Gods for Skeptics, or as they used to call it, Aliens for Atheists.

Basically the idea is that aliens and extraterrestrials in our imagination—and we haven’t found any yet so they’re all in our imagination—are often portrayed as these almost god-like deities, you know, they’re super advanced technologically, scientifically, morally. They’ve somehow overcome war and poverty and these sorts of things. And so I got to thinking about this. It’s very similar to the religious impulse, which is that: we’re not alone. There is something out there more powerful than us who knows about us and cares about us; who loves us. That’s the kind of deep religious impulse: “We’re not alone.” And that’s the same impulse people get when they think about extraterrestrials.

The crux of my article in Scientific American is that there was there was a new paper published that showed that people who have this longing—so there’s variation in this: some people have more of that longing than others—those who have that longing but are not religious are more likely to believe extraterrestrials are out there.

In other words, if you have the religious beliefs, God, Jesus, Mohammed, whatever your religion is, you don’t really need the aliens, so you’re satisfied with that. But if you don’t have that then you’re more likely to go for the extraterrestrial hypothesis as a viable one in the sense that “it makes me feel good”.

Because let’s face it, religions have no more evidence for god than scientists have for extraterrestrials. It’s all imagination and speculation based on reason and logic and arguments, but we still don’t have any empirical evidence. So short of that I find it interesting that it becomes sort of an emotional appeal or a deep desire for us to feel like there’s somebody else out there, and "I’m not alone". And let’s face it, that does feel good, and there’s nothing wrong with that—but we should always suspend judgment until we actually have evidence for this. We may be the only ones in the cosmos that are sentient beings, and if so, all the more reason we should care for our world and each other, because that would mean this is it.

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“Like... I mean... like er…” The verb 'to like' isn't that complicated, but many of the other uses of the little word are misunderstood and unfairly maligned, says University of Victoria sociolinguist

I asked one question on my profile on Quora and booooom… many answers were proposed to that simple question. After checking some of them out, I came across this article written by Alexandra D’Arcy, who studies the history of like at University of Victoria.

And “using centuries-old texts, personal letters, court documents and even CBC Radio archives from B.C. settlers, she shows that "like" may be increasing in use, but it's not random or a new phenomenon”.

If you think you should read (and listen to) it, I would strongly recommend you to take some minutes in order to read it here (Like, don't blame 'like' on kids these days, says sociolinguist)  

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SHIRKING RESPONSIBILITIES: THE PETER PAN SYNDROME EXPLAINED

The Peter Pan syndrome is used to describe people who do not want to grow up and assume responsibility. This has a far-reaching effect on all aspects of their life. We will go into a little more detail about this syndrome and understand the nuances of the same.

The Peter Pan syndrome is not recognized as a mental health disorder by the World Health Organization (WHO).

There might have been countless times when you've had to occasionally say 'Oh grow up!' to the significant other, for all the childish behavior that he/she throws your way―the imperative word here being, occasionally. All of us are prone to childish behavior from time to time; and while we may display these nonconformist behavior patterns, it's only a slight detour from our normal behavior, and we come back to being our responsible selves sooner or later. However, what if this irresponsible behavior is not an occasional burst, but is, rather, a set personality?

The Peter Pan syndrome works on these lines. This syndrome describes people who exhibit immature behavior and do not want to grow up or take on adult responsibilities. The term is based on the widely popular book―Peter Pan-the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up by J. M. Barrie, and describes a boy who is cocky and irresponsible. This phenomenon translates into real life much in the same way. Studies suggest that people born in the late 1980s and 1990s are more likely to develop this syndrome owing to reasons of over-protective parents, high costs of living, lack of developing normal, coping mechanisms, and the difficulty in finding partners.

CHARACTERISTIC TRAITS

Even though the Peter Pan Syndrome features in both men and women, it is more common in men than in women. Let us understand the characteristic traits of this syndrome.

AVOID RESPONSIBILITY, SEEK PLEASURE

People who develop this syndrome, seem to do so, like we mentioned before, owing to certain external factors like overprotective parents and tremendous economic and societal pressure. They shirk away from most forms of responsibility and all their energy is focused on finding pleasure in life. In doing which, they manage to shut out their sense of what is right and what is wrong, and they become hedonistic in intent. They glorify their adolescence or childhood―which was sans responsibility and want to be in this state forever.

BROKEN PROMISES AND THE BLAME GAME

They cannot assume responsibility for any of their actions, and if something goes wrong, they are quick to blame others. People with this syndrome cannot necessarily keep promises either. They hate if people are dependent on them.

THE FEAR OF REJECTION

They hate being rejected and are scared of loneliness. Which is why they want to be surrounded by people at all times. In fact, they usually crave to be the center of attention.

LACK OF CONFIDENCE

They are highly concerned about their appearance and hate criticism of any kind. In a way, this is because they lack confidence. Even though it is not very apparent, this low self-esteem drives them to be properly dressed, become the center of attention by developing the gift of the gab and distract people in this manner, such that they do not focus on their negative traits.

EMOTIONS AND THE LACK OF THEM

A person who has this syndrome finds it very difficult to express emotions. They have not developed the coping abilities to life's small disappointments, and therefore, they tend to get hurt easily. To protect themselves from this hurt, they tend to take on an 'I don't care' attitude so that they can justify anything with this statement.

TRENDS IN RELATIONSHIPS

Men are usually more likely to be affected by this syndrome than women. It has been studied that men who are afflicted by this syndrome choose to be in relationships with women who are much younger than themselves. Every time commitment is demanded or the relationship is expected to be taken to a different level, they bail out and end things because they hate taking up responsibilities of any kind. They usually prefer to be in relationships with younger women so that they are not riddled with demands of commitment, and they can continue to live life on a day-today basis, seeking pleasure.

DENIAL AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE

In refusing to take up responsibilities, they manage to avoid confronting and facing problems (both simple and complex), and instead, develop a sense of denial, adopting the policy that if they do not acknowledge the problem, the problem does not exist. In many cases, a direct result of which is that they take to drugs and alcohol to numb their senses, and escape into a world that is devoid of responsibilities.

TROUBLE WITH JOBS

Given that they shirk away from responsibilities, they find it difficult to assume expected and necessary responsibilities at a job. The result of which is that they often find it difficult to sustain a proper job. Even when they are at a stage in their lives where they need to have a proper and steady job, they might, instead, be stuck in menial jobs, which they find difficult to sustain for long periods of time as well.

A person afflicted with the Peter Pan syndrome will usually find it very difficult to adjust in the normal settings of society, doing things that are expected of someone their age. When and if a person ever realizes that he is afflicted with the same and wants to change for the better, a consultation with a counselor and/or psychiatrist is necessary.

Disclaimer - This article is for informative purposes only and does not in any way attempt to replace the advice offered by an expert on the subject.

From: https://psychologenie.com/peter-pan-syndrome-explained

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Stanford researchers have found that, contrary to previous studies, insulin levels and a specific genotype pattern don’t predict weight-loss success

Low-fat or low-carb? It’s a draw, study finds

Stanford researchers have found that, contrary to previous studies, insulin levels and a specific genotype pattern don’t predict weight-loss success.

(Original text can be found here)

New evidence from a study at the Stanford University School of Medicine might dismay those who have chosen sides in the low-fat versus low-carb diet debate.

Neither option is superior: Cutting either carbs or fats shaves off excess weight in about the same proportion, according to the study. What’s more, the study inquired whether insulin levels or a specific genotype pattern could predict an individual’s success on either diet. The answer, in both cases, was no.

“We’ve all heard stories of a friend who went on one diet — it worked great — and then another friend tried the same diet, and it didn’t work at all,” said Christopher Gardner, PhD, professor of medicine and the lead author of the study. “It’s because we’re all very different, and we’re just starting to understand the reasons for this diversity. Maybe we shouldn’t be asking what’s the best diet, but what’s the best diet for whom?”

Past research has shown that a range of factors, including genetics, insulin levels (which helps regulate glucose in the body) and the microbiome, might tip the scales when it comes to weight loss. The new study, published Feb. 20 in JAMA, homed in on genetics and insulin, seeking to discover if these nuances of biology would encourage an individual’s body to favor a low-carbohydrate diet or a low-fat diet. The senior authors of the study are Gardner; Abby King, PhD, professor of health research and policy and of medicine; Manisha Desai, PhD, professor of medicine and of biomedical data science; and John Ioannidis, MD, DSc, professor of medicine.

A TALE OF TWO DIETS

In his quest to find out if individual biological factors dictate weight loss, Gardner recruited 609 participants between the ages of 18 and 50. About half were men and half were women. All were randomized into one of two dietary groups: low-carbohydrate or low-fat. Each group was instructed to maintain their diet for one year. (By the end of that year, about 20 percent of participants had dropped out of the study, due to outside circumstances, Gardner noted.)

Individuals participated in two pre-study activities, the results of which were later tested as predictors of weight loss. Participants got part of their genome sequenced, allowing scientists to look for specific gene patterns associated with producing proteins that modify carbohydrate or fat metabolism. Then, participants took a baseline insulin test, in which they drank a shot of glucose (think corn syrup) on an empty stomach, and researchers measured their bodies’ insulin outputs.

In the initial eight weeks of the study, participants were told to limit their daily carbohydrate or fat intake to just 20 grams, which is about what can be found in a 1½ slices of whole wheat bread or in a generous handful of nuts, respectively. After the second month, Gardner’s team instructed the groups to make incremental small adjustments as needed, adding back 5-15 grams of fat or carbs gradually, aiming to reach a balance they believed they could maintain for the rest of their lives. At the end of the 12 months, those on a low-fat diet reported a daily average fat intake of 57 grams; those on low-carb ingested about 132 grams of carbohydrates per day. Those statistics pleased Gardner, given that average fat consumption for the participants before the study started was around 87 grams a day, and average carbohydrate intake was about 247 grams.

What’s key, Gardner said, was emphasizing that these were healthy low-fat and low-carb diets: A soda might be low-fat, but it’s certainly not healthy. Lard may be low-carb, but an avocado would be healthier. “We made sure to tell everybody, regardless of which diet they were on, to go to the farmer’s market, and don’t buy processed convenience food crap. Also, we advised them to diet in a way that didn’t make them feel hungry or deprived — otherwise it’s hard to maintain the diet in the long run,” said Gardner, who holds the Rehnborg Farquhar Professorship. “We wanted them to choose a low-fat or low-carb diet plan that they could potentially follow forever, rather than a diet that they’d drop when the study ended.”

CONTINUING TO MINE THE DATA

Over the 12-month period, researchers tracked the progress of participants, logging information about weight, body composition, baseline insulin levels and how many grams of fat or carbohydrate they consumed daily. By the end of the study, individuals in the two groups had lost, on average, 13 pounds. There was still, however, immense weight loss variability among them; some dropped upward of 60 pounds, while others gained close to 15 or 20. But, contrary to the study hypotheses, Gardner found no associations between the genotype pattern or baseline insulin levels and a propensity to succeed on either diet.

“This study closes the door on some questions — but it opens the door to others. We have gobs of data that we can use in secondary, exploratory studies,” he said. Gardner and his team are continuing to delve into their databanks, now asking if the microbiome, epigenetics or a different gene expression pattern can clue them in to why there’s such drastic variability between dieting individuals.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from this study, Gardner said, is that the fundamental strategy for losing weight with either a low-fat or a low-carb approach is similar. Eat less sugar, less refined flour and as many vegetables as possible. Go for whole foods, whether that is a wheatberry salad or grass-fed beef. “On both sides, we heard from people who had lost the most weight that we had helped them change their relationship to food, and that now they were more thoughtful about how they ate,” said Gardner.

Moving forward, he and his team will continue to analyze the reams of data collected during the yearlong study, and they hope to partner with scientists across Stanford to uncover keys to individual weight loss.

“I’m hoping that we can come up with signatures of sorts,” he said. “I feel like we owe it to Americans to be smarter than to just say ‘eat less.’ I still think there is an opportunity to discover some personalization to it — now we just need to work on tying the pieces together.”

The study’s other Stanford co-authors are postdoctoral scholars John Trepanowski, PhD, and Michelle Hauser MD; research fellow Liana Del Gobbo; and senior biostatistician, Joseph Rigdon, PhD.

Gardner, Desai and Ioannidis are members of the Stanford Cancer Institute. Gardner and Ioannidis are members of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute. Gardner and Desai are members of the Stanford Child Health Research Institute. Gardner is a member of Stanford ChEM-H. Ioannidis is a member of Stanford Bio-X.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (grants 1R01DK091831, T32HL007034 and 1K12GM088033), the Nutrition Science Initiative and Stanford’s Clinical and Translational Science Award (grant UL1TR001085).

Stanford’s departments of Medicine and of Health Research and Policy also supported the work.

PORTAL DA LÍNGUA INGLESA has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-partly internet websites referred to in this post, and does not guarantee that any context on such websites are, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

In some instances, I have been unable to trace the owners of the pictures used here; therefore, I would appreciate any information that would enable me to do so. Thank you very much.

Is something important missing? Report an error or suggest an improvement. Please, I strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact me!

Your feedback is welcome. Please direct comments and questions to me at bruno_coriolano@hotmail.com

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