Valentine in action

Action mirroring and action understanding in children

The past decade has experienced an increasing interest in action underestanding and children’s mirroring of others’ behavior. Behavioral investigations have focused on the development and significance of mimicry, goal prediction and imitation. Others have focused on the neural basis of action mirroring, identifying particular electrophysiological markers or related brain regions. A vivid debate...

James W. Valentine

Jim Valentine went to college on the GI Bill (a WWII veterans privilege) and has been there ever since; at present he is Professor of Integrative Biology, Emeritus, at UC Berkeley. His early research was on what is now called macroecology, working with fossil marine faunas, leading to a book, Evolutionary Paleoecology of the Marine Biosphere. Those studies continue today, chiefly with colleague...

Ronan Valentine PhD thesis

Combined Action of Influenza Virus and Staphylococcus aureus Panton–Valentine Leukocidin Provokes Severe Lung Epithelium Damage

Staphylococcus aureus necrotizing pneumonia is a life-threatening disease that is frequently preceded by influenza infection. The S. aureus toxin Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) is most likely causative for necrotizing diseases, but the precise pathogenic mechanisms of PVL and a possible contribution of influenza virus remain to be elucidated. In this study, we present a model that explains h...

Panton-Valentine Leukocidin Genes in Staphylococcus aureus

To the Editor: The pathogenicity of Staphylococcus aureus depends on various bacterial surface components and extracellular proteins. However, the precise role of single virulence determinants in relation to infection is hard to establish. The frequent recovery of staphylococcal isolates that produce leukocidal toxins from patients with deep skin and soft tissue infections, particularly furuncu...