Preschool children\u27s information processing and emotional behavior in social conflict situations

This study investigated various aspects of the Social Information Processing Model, in particular, young children’s emotional behavior regulation and negative emotionality, in Hong Kong. The sample was N=628 from 12 schools. Using Rasch measurement, linear unidimensional scales were constructed for Emotion and Behaviour Regulation (10 items) and for Negative Emotionality (10 items). The well-known Short Temperament Scale was Rasch analyzed too, but a linear scale could not be created – it had initially been designed under the True Score Test theory paradigm. The children were divided into Type A (high on negative emotionality and low on emotion and behavior regulation, N=27 and Type B (low on negative emotionality and high on emotion and behavior regulation, N=31). The children’s teachers were given conflict situations and asked to state what strategies the Type A and Type B children would adopt in each conflict situation. The first conflict situation was about the child who was being accidentally pushed by a peer. The second conflict situation was about the child who is being excluded from a game that has enough participants. The third conflict situation was about the child being called “a baby” because he/she was playing with baby toys. The fourth conflict situation was about a peer criticizing and putting marks on a child’s picture. The fifth situation was about a peer pushing ahead and taking a toy that a child has been waiting for a long time. The Type A and Type B children were also asked to state what strategies they would adopt in each conflict situation. When the teachers’ views were compared to the children’s views, it was clear that the teachers did not know their children’s thought processes very well. For both Type A and Type B children, Rasch analysis was used to create a calm/angry scale and a sad/happy scale. Conflict situation two (being excluded from a game) is very hard on the calm/angry scale and both Type A and Type B children need to have a very high angry measure to answer this item positively. Conflict situation two is moderately easy on the sad/happy scale and both Type A and Type B children need only a low sad measure to answer conflict situation two positively. In contrast, conflict situation three (being called a “baby”) is very hard on the sad/happy scale and both Type A and Type B children need to have a very high happy measure to answer this item positively. Conflict situation three is moderately easy on the calm/angry scale and both Type A and Type B children need only a low calm measure to answer conflict situation three positively. The present study gave strong support for the Social Information Processing Model and for the inclusion of emotion and behavior regulation and negative emotionality in the revised model. The study rejected the Short Temperament Scale as it did not produce a linear, unidimensional scale, and it showed that teachers do not know their children, in terms of strategies selection in common social conflict situations, as well as they think that they do. Children are much more conscious of the variety of strategies that can be used in common conflict situations than teachers would normally give them credit. Results indicate that levels of anger aroused in Type A children are associated with differences in the quality of strategies that they are able to generate for solving social problems. Type A and Type B children differ significantly in their choice of best strategy under different emotional conditions for the different conflict situations

Divergent pathogenetic outcomes in BALB/c mice following Omicron subvariant infection

Following the emergence of B.1.1.529 Omicron, the SARS-CoV-2 virus evolved into a significant number of sublineage variants that possessed numerous mutations throughout the genome, but particularly within the spike glycoprotein (S) gene. For example, the BQ.1.1 and the XBB.1 and XBB.1.5 subvariants contained 34 and 41 mutations in S, respectively. However, these variants elicited largely replication only or mild disease phenotypes in mice. To better model pathogenic outcomes and measure countermeasure performance, we developed mouse adapted versions (BQ.1.1 MA; XBB.1 MA; XBB.1.5 MA) that reflect more pathogenic acute phase pulmonary disease symptoms of SARS-CoV-2, as well as derivative strains expressing nano-luciferase (nLuc) in place of ORF7 (BQ.1.1 nLuc; XBB.1 nLuc; XBB.1.5 nLuc). Amongst the mouse adapted (MA) viruses, a wide range of disease outcomes were observed including mortality, weight loss, lung dysfunction, and tissue viral loads in the lung and nasal turbinates. Intriguingly, XBB.1 MA and XBB.1.5 MA strains, which contained identical mutations throughout except at position F486S/P in S, exhibited divergent disease outcomes in mice (Ao et al., 2023). XBB.1.5 MA infection was associated with significant weight loss and ∼45 % mortality across two independent studies, while XBB.1 MA infected animals suffered from mild weight loss and only 10 % mortality across the same two independent studies. Additionally, the development and use of nanoluciferase expressing strains provided moderate throughput for live virus neutralization assays. The availability of small animal models for the assessment of Omicron VOC disease potential will enable refined capacity to evaluate the efficacy of on market and pre-clinical therapeutics and interventions

News from the Muon (g-2) Experiment at BNL

The magnetic moment anomaly a_mu = (g_mu - 2) / 2 of the positive muon has been measured at the Brookhaven Alternating Gradient Synchrotron with an uncertainty of 0.7 ppm. The new result, based on data taken in 2000, agrees well with previous measurements. Standard Model evaluations currently differ from the experimental result by 1.6 to 3.0 standard deviations.Comment: Talk presented at RADCOR - Loops and Legs 2002, Kloster Banz, Germany, September 8-13 2002, to be published in Nuclear Physics B (Proc. Suppl.); 5 pages, 3 figure

Constraining 2HDM by Present and Future Muon(g-2) Data

Constraints on the general 2HDM ("Model II") are obtained from the existing $(g-2)_{\mu}$ data including limits on Higgs bosons masses from LEP I data. We consider separately two cases: with a light scalar $h$ and with a light pseudoscalar $A$, assuming ${M_{h}+M_{A}} \ge {M_{Z}}$. The charged Higgs contribution is also included. It is found that already the present $(g-2)_{\mu}$ data improve limits obtained recently by ALEPH collaboration on \tb for the mass of the pseudoscalar below \mr 2 GeV. The improvement in the accuracy by factor 20 in the forthcoming E821 experiment may lead to more stringent, than provided by ALEPH group, limits up to $M_A\sim$ 30 GeV if the mass difference between $h$ and $A$ is $\sim M_Z$. Similar results should hold for a light scalar scenario as well.Comment: 19 pages, including 5 figure

Horizontal Branch Stars: The Interplay between Observations and Theory, and Insights into the Formation of the Galaxy

We review HB stars in a broad astrophysical context, including both variable and non-variable stars. A reassessment of the Oosterhoff dichotomy is presented, which provides unprecedented detail regarding its origin and systematics. We show that the Oosterhoff dichotomy and the distribution of globular clusters (GCs) in the HB morphology-metallicity plane both exclude, with high statistical significance, the possibility that the Galactic halo may have formed from the accretion of dwarf galaxies resembling present-day Milky Way satellites such as Fornax, Sagittarius, and the LMC. A rediscussion of the second-parameter problem is presented. A technique is proposed to estimate the HB types of extragalactic GCs on the basis of integrated far-UV photometry. The relationship between the absolute V magnitude of the HB at the RR Lyrae level and metallicity, as obtained on the basis of trigonometric parallax measurements for the star RR Lyrae, is also revisited, giving a distance modulus to the LMC of (m-M)_0 = 18.44+/-0.11. RR Lyrae period change rates are studied. Finally, the conductive opacities used in evolutionary calculations of low-mass stars are investigated. [ABRIDGED]Comment: 56 pages, 22 figures. Invited review, to appear in Astrophysics and Space Scienc

Study of CP violation in Dalitz-plot analyses of B0 --> K+K-KS, B+ --> K+K-K+, and B+ --> KSKSK+

We perform amplitude analyses of the decays $B^0 \to K^+K^-K^0_S$, $B^+ \rightarrow K^+K^-K^+$, and $B^+ \to K^0_S K^0_S K^+$, and measure CP-violating parameters and partial branching fractions. The results are based on a data sample of approximately $470\times 10^6$ $B\bar{B}$ decays, collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy $B$ factory at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. For $B^+ \to K^+K^-K^+$, we find a direct CP asymmetry in $B^+ \to \phi(1020)K^+$ of $A_{CP}= (12.8\pm 4.4 \pm 1.3)$, which differs from zero by $2.8 \sigma$. For $B^0 \to K^+K^-K^0_S$, we measure the CP-violating phase $\beta_{\rm eff} (\phi(1020)K^0_S) = (21\pm 6 \pm 2)^\circ$. For $B^+ \to K^0_S K^0_S K^+$, we measure an overall direct CP asymmetry of $A_{CP} = (4 ^{+4}_{-5} \pm 2)$. We also perform an angular-moment analysis of the three channels, and determine that the $f_X(1500)$ state can be described well by the sum of the resonances $f_0(1500)$, $f_2^{\prime}(1525)$, and $f_0(1710)$.Comment: 35 pages, 68 postscript figures. v3 - minor modifications to agree with published versio

SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern fitness and adaptation in primary human airway epithelia

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pandemic is characterized by the emergence of novel variants of concern (VOCs) that replace ancestral strains. Here, we dissect the complex selective pressures by evaluating variant fitness and adaptation in human respiratory tissues. We evaluate viral properties and host responses to reconstruct forces behind D614G through Omicron (BA.1) emergence. We observe differential replication in airway epithelia, differences in cellular tropism, and virus-induced cytotoxicity. D614G accumulates the most mutations after infection, supporting zoonosis and adaptation to the human airway. We perform head-to-head competitions and observe the highest fitness for Gamma and Delta. Under these conditions, RNA recombination favors variants encoding the B.1.617.1 lineage 3′ end. Based on viral growth kinetics, Alpha, Gamma, and Delta exhibit increased fitness compared to D614G. In contrast, the global success of Omicron likely derives from increased transmission and antigenic variation. Our data provide molecular evidence to support epidemiological observations of VOC emergence

Human Resource Flexibility as a Mediating Variable Between High Performance Work Systems and Performance

Much of the human resource management literature has demonstrated the impact of high performance work systems (HPWS) on organizational performance. A new generation of studies is emerging in this literature that recommends the inclusion of mediating variables between HPWS and organizational performance. The increasing rate of dynamism in competitive environments suggests that measures of employee adaptability should be included as a mechanism that may explain the relevance of HPWS to firm competitiveness. On a sample of 226 Spanish firms, the study’s results confirm that HPWS influences performance through its impact on the firm’s human resource (HR) flexibility

Projected WIMP sensitivity of the LUX-ZEPLIN dark matter experiment

LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) is a next-generation dark matter direct detection experiment that will operate 4850 feet underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, South Dakota, USA. Using a two-phase xenon detector with an active mass of 7 tonnes, LZ will search primarily for low-energy interactions with weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), which are hypothesized to make up the dark matter in our galactic halo. In this paper, the projected WIMP sensitivity of LZ is presented based on the latest background estimates and simulations of the detector. For a 1000 live day run using a 5.6-tonne fiducial mass, LZ is projected to exclude at 90% confidence level spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross sections above 1.4 × 10-48cm2 for a 40 GeV/c2 mass WIMP. Additionally, a 5σ discovery potential is projected, reaching cross sections below the exclusion limits of recent experiments. For spin-dependent WIMP-neutron(-proton) scattering, a sensitivity of 2.3 × 10−43 cm2 (7.1 × 10−42 cm2) for a 40 GeV/c2 mass WIMP is expected. With underground installation well underway, LZ is on track for commissioning at SURF in 2020