How Future Orientation is Associated with Depressive Symptoms in Multiethnoracial Adults: Basic Psychological Needs as a Mediator.

We examined the role of basic psychological needs as a mediator of the association between future orientation and depressive symptoms in a sample of 202 (159 female and 43 male) multiethnoracial adults. Multiple mediation analysis with 10,000 bootstraps was conducted to test for mediation. The association between future orientation and depressive symptoms was found to be accounted for by dimensions of basic psychological needs.

Sexual Assault and Depressive Symptoms in College Students: Do Psychological Needs Account for the Relationship?

In this study, authors examined basic psychological needs (namely, competence, autonomy, and relatedness) as potential mediators of the association between sexual assault and depressive symptoms in a sample of 342 college students. Results from conducting a multiple mediation test provided support for partial mediation involving the indirect effects of competence and autonomy. In contrast, no support for mediation was found involving relatedness.

BMI, body discrepancy, and self-construal as predictors of eating disturbances in European and Asian American females.

This study examined for ethnic variations in the predictive utility of body discrepancy and self-construal in eating disturbances between 156 European American and 129 Asian American females. We found important ethnic variations in the prediction model between these two groups, especially in the value of self-construal. Some implications of the present findings are discussed.

Disruption of gene expression rhythms in mice lacking secretory vesicle proteins IA-2 and IA-2β.

Insulinoma-associated protein (IA)-2 and IA-2β are transmembrane proteins involved in neurotransmitter secretion. Mice with targeted disruption of both IA-2 and IA-2β (double-knockout, or DKO mice) have numerous endocrine and physiological disruptions, including disruption of circadian and diurnal rhythms. In the present study, we have assessed the impact of disruption of IA-2 and IA-2β on molecular rhythms in the brain and peripheral oscillators.

Disrupting the circadian clock: gene-specific effects on aging, cancer, and other phenotypes.

The circadian clock imparts 24-hour rhythmicity on gene expression and cellular physiology in virtually all cells. Disruption of the genes necessary for the circadian clock to function has diverse effects, including aging-related phenotypes. Some circadian clock genes have been described as tumor suppressors, while other genes have less clear functions in aging and cancer.

Casein kinase 1 delta (CK1delta) regulates period length of the mouse suprachiasmatic circadian clock in vitro.

Background: Casein kinase 1 delta (CK1delta) plays a more prominent role in the regulation of circadian cycle length than its homologue casein kinase 1 epsilon (CK1epsilon) in peripheral tissues such as liver and embryonic fibroblasts. Mice lacking CK1delta die shortly after birth, so it has not been possible to assess the impact of loss of CK1delta on behavioral rhythms controlled by the master circadian oscillator in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN).

Methodology/principal Findings: In the present study, mPER2::LUCIFERASE bioluminescence rhythms were monitored from SCN explants collected from neonatal mice.

Casein kinase 1 delta regulates the pace of the mammalian circadian clock.

Both casein kinase 1 delta (CK1delta) and epsilon (CK1epsilon) phosphorylate core clock proteins of the mammalian circadian oscillator. To assess the roles of CK1delta and CK1epsilon in the circadian clock mechanism, we generated mice in which the genes encoding these proteins (Csnk1d and Csnk1e, respectively) could be disrupted using the Cre-loxP system. Cre-mediated excision of the floxed exon 2 from Csnk1d led to in-frame splicing and production of a deletion mutant protein (CK1delta(Delta2)).