When rewards are available, people expend more energy, increasing their motivational vigor. In theory, incentives might drive behavior for two distinct reasons: First, they increase expected reward; second, they increase the difference in subjective value between successful and unsuccessful performance, which increases contingency-the degree to which action determines outcome. Previous studies ...

Six parents of Jatropha curcas were crossed in half diallel fashion, and the F 1s were evaluated to determine the combining ability for nine germination parameters. The ratio between general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) variances indicated preponderance of additive gene action for all the characters except germination percentage, time of 50% germination, seedling...

If we assume that the purpose of a movement is to acquire a rewarding state, the duration of the movement carries a cost because it delays acquisition of reward. For some people, passage of time carries a greater cost, as evidenced by how long they are willing to wait for a rewarding outcome. These steep discounters are considered impulsive. Is there a relationship between cost of time in decis...

Although Azospirillum spp. are considered to be important plant growth promoting bacteria, their possible effects on germination and vigor of aged lettuce seeds has not been previously evaluated. In fact, there is a paucity of published data about inoculation effects on seed germination. The aim of this work was to evaluate seed quality of oneyear aged lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. cv. Crimor INTA...

[1] If mantle thermal upwellings (plumes) are the cause of volcanic ‘‘hot spots,’’ then observations suggest that plumes are relatively fixed with nonuniform distribution and limited lifetimes. To date, fixity of upwellings has only been shown in models of convection at either low-vigor or with layering, though studies where the lower mantle has high viscosity do frequently show upwellings with...

Over 60% Serbian soils are heavy, shallow and acidic, especially in west part of this country. Basically, Serbian fruit production is mainly represented in these conditions which are not favorable for intensive fruit growing. However, repair of these soils is a long and very expensive process. Regarding to this, one of the real ways to overcome this problem faster and cheaper is to grow toleran...

BACKGROUND Little is known about the acute or immediate effects of walking exercise and yoga on mood in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Such an examination is important for identifying an exercise modality for inclusion in exercise-training interventions that yields mood benefits in MS. We examined the effects of single bouts of treadmill walking and yoga compared with a quiet, seated-rest...

Stress-induced abscisic acid (ABA) is mainly catabolized by ABA 8'-hydroxylase (ABA8ox), which also strictly regulates endogenous ABA levels. Although three members of the ABA8ox gene family are conserved in rice, it is not clear which stressors induce expression of these genes. Here, we found that OsABA8ox1 was induced by cold stress within 24 h and that OsABA8ox2 and OsABA8ox3 were not. In co...

OBJECTIVE To study sleep parameters and mood profiles of a female explorer traveling solo and unaided to the South Pole during the winter. METHODS During the 44-day expedition, global activity and sleep were assessed using a wrist actigraph (AW) worn on the nondominant wrist. Mood was assessed using an adapted Profile of Mood States questionnaire. Pre- and post expedition physiologic profiles...

Two general hypotheses that describe the relationship between plant quality and host-plant preference of insect herbivores are the plant-stress and plant-vigor hypotheses. We examined the response of a gall-forming guild of insect herbivores associated with prairie rose, Rosa arkansana Porter (Rosaceae), to experimental manipulations of plant stress (addition of NaCl) and vigor (addition of nit...