An exploration of the differential effects of parents\u2019 authoritarianism dimensions on pre-school children\u2019s epistemic, existential, and relational needs.

Research on adult populations has widely investigated the deep differences that characterize individuals who embrace either conservative or liberal views of the world. More recently, research has started to investigate these differences at very early stages of life. One major goal is to explore how parental political ideology may influence children's characteristics that are known to be associated to different ideological positions. In the present work, we further investigate the relations between parents' ideology and children cognitive processing strategies within the framework of political ideology as motivated social cognition (Jost et al., 2003) and the dual process model of political ideology (Duckitt et al., 2002). Specifically, epistemic (implicit attitudes toward order vs. chaos), existential (negativity and threat bias), and relational needs (conformity measure) were assessed in pre-school children (N = 106; 4-6 years). For each child at least one parent completed both the Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) and the Right Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) measures. Interestingly, results indicated that mothers' and fathers' responses had unique associations with children's socio-cognitive motivations, and different findings emerged in relation to the two facets of parental authoritarianism, namely dominance (i.e., SDO) and submission (i.e., RWA). More specifically, children's existential needs appeared to be more related to mothers' RWA scores, whereas children's epistemic needs appeared to be more related to fathers' SDO. Finally, parents' RWA and SDO scores appeared to have opposite effects on children's relational needs: children's conformity increased at increasing levels of mothers' RWA and decreased at increasing levels of fathers' SDO. Overall, however, results were relatively weak and several links between the responses of parents and their children were not significant, suggesting caution in drawing strong conclusions about the impact of parents' ideology. Limitations and future developments will be discussed

The Automatic Conservative: Ideology-Based Attentional Asymmetries in the Processing of Valenced Information

Research has widely explored the differences between conservatives and liberals, and it has been also recently demonstrated that conservatives display different reactions toward valenced stimuli. However, previous studies have not yet fully illuminated the cognitive underpinnings of these differences. In the current work, we argued that political ideology is related to selective attention processes, so that negative stimuli are more likely to automatically grab the attention of conservatives as compared to liberals. In Experiment 1, we demonstrated that negative (vs. positive) information impaired the performance of conservatives, more than liberals, in an Emotional Stroop Task. This finding was confirmed in Experiment 2 and in Experiment 3 employing a Dot-Probe Task, demonstrating that threatening stimuli were more likely to attract the attention of conservatives. Overall, results support the conclusion that people embracing conservative views of the world display an automatic selective attention for negative stimuli

The effects of perceived competence and sociability on electoral outcomes

Previous research demonstrated that inferences of competence from the face are good predictors of electoral outcomes (Todorov et al., 2005). In the current work we examined the role of another key dimension in social perception, namely perceived sociability. Results showed that people considered both competence and sociability, as inferred from the face, as related to higher chances of winning the elections. A different pattern emerged in relation to the actual electoral outcomes. Indeed, perceived competence was related to higher chances of winning, whereas perceived sociability was negatively related to electoral success. It is thus shown that these two fundamental dimensions in social perception exert opposite effects on voting behaviors

Parenting motives: Validation of the Italian version of the parental care and tenderness scale

Relevant individual differences can be observed in relation to parenting motives. The Parental Care and Tenderness (PCAT) scale is an important tool aimed at assessing them. We here investigated the psychometric properties of an Italian version of the scale (N = 946). The scale had a very high reliability and its internal structure closely reproduced the one obtained in different cultural contexts. Two major subscales, namely nurturance and protection, could be identified. In addition, we explored the validity of the scale in relation to a novel domain. Individual differences in parenting motivations, and more specifically those related to nurturance, emerged to be associated with a spontaneous behavioral tendency to approach children. Scores in the PCAT, and more specifically scores in the protection subscale, were also associated with a more conservative political orientation. The present work contributes to the growing literature about the key role of parenting motives in affecting social behaviors

Kinetics of Circulating Plasma Cell-Free DNA in Paediatric Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma

Levels of plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) of a large series of children with classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) were evaluated and analyzed at diagnosis and during chemotherapy treatment in relation with clinical characteristics. CfDNA levels in cHL patients were significantly higher compared with controls (p=0.002). CfDNA at diagnosis was correlated with presence of B symptoms (p=0.027) and high erythrocyte sedimentation rate (p=0.049). We found that the increasing of plasma cfDNA after first chemotherapy cycle seems to be associated with a worse prognosis (p=0.049). Levels of plasma cfDNA might constitute an interesting non-invasive tool in cHL patients' management

GEOMORFOPEDOLOGIA DA SERRA DA AREIA E ENTORNO, SUDOESTE DE GOIÂNIA, GO

At the Serra da Areia region the geology, general geomorphologic pattern, soils and vegetation are representative of those in the southwestern region of Goiânia, which have been sculpted in the micaxistes and quartzites of the Araxá Group. A detailed analysis of each physical land components allowed for the identification of distinct morphopedologic compartments of interest to land use planning. Observations regarding the ideal land use, the current use, and the environment impacts were also registered. The research area contains the superficial and subterranean waters which supply the city of Aparecida de Goiânia. Key-words: rocks; relief; soils; vegetation; land use.Na Serra da Areia e entorno a geologia, o padrão geomorfológico geral, os solos e as fitofisionomias são representativos daqueles da região a sul da cidade de Goiânia, esculpida nos domínios de ocorrência dos micaxistos e quartzitos do Grupo Araxá-sul de Goiás. O exame de cada um dos condicionantes do meio físico, feito em escala de maior detalhe, permitiu a visualização de feições geomorfopedológicas de interesse para o planejamento de uso, sendo que a análise integrada destas feições possibilitou a identificação de distintos compartimentos morfopedológicos de natureza, comportamento e funcionamento próprios. Ao diagnóstico do meio físico foram acrescidas observações sobre a vocação de uso da terra, o uso atual e os impactos ambientais decorrentes. A área de pesquisa é zona de manancial superficial e subterrâneo que abastece d’água a cidade de Aparecida de Goiânia. Palavras-chave: rochas; relevo; solos; vegetação; uso da terra

Ca II triplet spectroscopy of Small Magellanic Cloud red giants. IV. Abundances for a large sample of field stars and comparison with the cluster sample

This paper represents a major step forward in the systematic and homogeneous study of Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) star clusters and field stars carried out by applying the Calcium Triplet technique. We present in this study the radial velocity and metallicity of approximately 400 red giant stars in 15 SMC fields, with typical errors of about 7 km/sec and 0.16 dex respectively. We added to this information our previously determined metallicity values for 29 clusters and approximately 350 field stars using the identical techniques. Using this enlarged sample, we analize the metallicity distribution and gradient in this galaxy. We also compare the chemical properties of the clusters and of their surrounding fields. We find a number of surprising results. While the clusters, taken as a whole, show no strong evidence for a metallicity gradient, the field stars exhibit a clear negative gradient in the inner region of the SMC consistent with the recent results of Dobbie et al. (2014b). For distances to the center of the galaxy less than 4 degrees, field stars show a considerable smaller metallicity dispersion than that of the clusters. However, in the external SMC regions, clusters and field stars exhibit similar metallicity dispersions. Moreover, in the inner region of the SMC, clusters appear to be concentrated in two groups: one more metal-poor and another more metal-rich than field stars. Individually considered, neither cluster group presents a metallicity gradient. Most surprisingly, the metallicity gradient for both stellar populations (clusters and field stars) appears to reverse sign in the outer regions of the SMC. The difference between the cluster metallicity and the mean metallicity of the surrounding field stars turns out to be a strong function of the cluster metallicity. These results could be indicating different chemical evolution histories for these two stellar populations. They could also indicate variations in the chemical behavior of the SMC in its internal and external regions. Fil: Parisi, Maria Celeste. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba. Departamento de Astrofísica Estelar; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Concepción; ChileFil: Geisler, D.. Universidad de Concepción; ChileFil: Carraro, G.. European Southern Observatory; ChileFil: Claria Olmedo, Juan Jose. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Villanova, S.. Universidad de Concepción; ChileFil: Gramajo, Luciana Veronica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Sarajedini, A.. University of Florida; Estados UnidosFil: Grocholski, A.. State University of Louisiana; Estados Unido