Communication, Social Norms, and the Intention to Get Vaccinated Against Covid-19

Social norms are a promising factor for pandemic control, as they motivate people to engage in preventive behaviours. However, little is known about the influence of perceived social norms on the intention to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and the role of communication in shaping such normative perceptions. Moreover, despite the pandemic’s global scale, a cross-cultural perspective is scant in research on Covid-19 preventive behaviour. The present study examined the relationships between communication (i.e., attention to mass media and social media), social norms (i.e., perceived norms in the population and personal environment), and people’s intention to get vaccinated against Covid-19 using a cross-national survey in Singapore (N = 998) and Switzerland (N = 1,022). Multigroup structural equation modelling revealed that attention to mass media was positively correlated with perceived norms in both countries, whereas attention to social media was correlated with normative perceptions only in Singapore. Normative perceptions regarding the population and personal environment were positively correlated with vaccination intention in Singapore. However, in Switzerland, only perceived norms in the personal environment were positively related to vaccination intention. The results are discussed against the background of both countries’ media systems and cultural values (i.e., individualism/collectivism) and are instructive for norms-based interventions in times of crises

Structure and thermal behavior of zirconium tungstate under heating

The morphology and properties of powders ZrW2O7(OH)[2]•2H[2]O and ZrW[2]O[8], obtained under the conditions of hydrothermal synthesis was studied. Using the high-temperature X-ray analysis, the mechanism of formation of zirconium tungstate was established. The influence of temperature on the structure and properties of materials was studied using shadow-casting method

Communication, Social Norms, and the Intention to Get Vaccinated Against Covid-19

Social norms are a promising factor for pandemic control, as they motivate people to engage in preventive behaviours. However, little is known about the influence of perceived social norms on the intention to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and the role of communication in shaping such normative perceptions. Moreover, despite the pandemic’s global scale, a cross-cultural perspective is scant in research on Covid-19 preventive behaviour. The present study examined the relationships between communication (i.e., attention to mass media and social media), social norms (i.e., perceived norms in the population and personal environment), and people’s intention to get vaccinated against Covid-19 using a cross-national survey in Singapore (N = 998) and Switzerland (N = 1,022). Multigroup structural equation modelling revealed that attention to mass media was positively correlated with perceived norms in both countries, whereas attention to social media was correlated with normative perceptions only in Singapore. Normative perceptions regarding the population and personal environment were positively correlated with vaccination intention in Singapore. However, in Switzerland, only perceived norms in the personal environment were positively related to vaccination intention. The results are discussed against the background of both countries’ media systems and cultural values (i.e., individualism/collectivism) and are instructive for norms-based interventions in times of crises

Effect of Parathion-Methyl on Amazonian fish and freshwater invertebrates: a comparison of sensitivity with temperate data.

Parathion-methyl is an organophosphorous insecticide that is widely used in agricultural production sites in the Amazon. The use of this pesticide might pose a potential risk for the biodiversity and abundance of fish and invertebrate species inhabiting aquatic ecosystems adjacent to the agricultural fields. Due to a lack of toxicity data for Amazonian species, safe environmental concentrations used to predict the ecological risks of parathion-methyl in the Amazon are based on tests performed with temperate species, although it is unknown whether the sensitivity of temperate species is representative for those of Amazonian endemic species

Patterns of Sympathetic Responses Induced by Different Stress Tasks

Stress tasks are used to induce sympathetic nervous system (SNS) arousal. However, the efficacy and the patterns of SNS activation have not been systematically compared between different tasks

Facilitating Transitions: Postmortem Processing of the Dead at the Carrowkeel Passage Tomb Complex, Ireland (3500–3000 cal. B.C.)

This study explores the burial practices and secondary funerary rites at the Carrowkeel Neolithic passage tomb complex in County Sligo in northwest Ireland. An osteological and taphonomic reassessment of cremated and unburned human bones recovered from the complex during an archaeological excavation more than a century ago has produced significant new insights into how the people of Carrowkeel perceived death and how they maintained and manifested social links with their ancestors. In addition to the rite of cremation, a complex postmortem burial practice is further attested by the presence of cut marks on several of the unburned bones, which indicate that the bodies of the dead were dismembered before they were placed in the tombs. It is argued that both cremation and dismemberment (and possible defleshing) may have been physical expressions of similar objectives, relating to excarnation and removal of flesh from the bodies of the deceased. Processing the bodies and thereby assisting the dead to transcend to an extra-bodily realm of existence may have been the main focus of the burial rite. The passage tombs at Carrowkeel should perhaps be viewed as places of curation, transformation, and regeneration of enduring ancestors that enabled both a physical and spiritual interaction with the dead and allowed for their omnipresence among the living

Молдавская идентичность в начале XXI в.: реалии и перспективы

Территория между Прутом и Днестром, названная позже Бессарабией, была присоединена к Российской империи в результате русско-турецкой войны 1806-1812 гг. согласно Бухарестскому мирному договору (16(28) мая 1812 г.)

Rites of Passage: Mortuary Practice, Population Dynamics, and Chronology at the Carrowkeel Passage Tomb Complex, Co. Sligo, Ireland

]The first detailed investigation of the human remains from the Carrowkeel passage tomb complex since their excavation in 1911 has revealed several new and important insights about life, death, and mortuary practice in Neolithic Ireland. Osteological analysis provides the first conclusive proof for the occurrence of dismemberment of the dead at Irish passage tombs, practised contemporarily with cremation as one of a suite of funerary treatments. The research also highlights changes in burial tradition at the complex over the course of the Neolithic. Providing a chronology for these changes allows them to be linked to wider trends in monument construction, which may relate to changes in both land use and climate during the period. Multi-isotope analysis hints at the presence of non-local individuals among the interred and the possible existence of different food sourcing areas at the onset of the later Neolithic period. Preliminary results from ancient DNA sequencing of six individuals from Carrowkeel provide evidence for the genetic ancestry of Irish Neolithic populations, demonstrating their Anatolian origins and links along the Atlantic façade

Needs assessment to strengthen capacity in water and sanitation research in Africa:experiences of the African SNOWS consortium

Despite its contribution to global disease burden, diarrhoeal disease is still a relatively neglected area for research funding, especially in low-income country settings. The SNOWS consortium (Scientists Networked for Outcomes from Water and Sanitation) is funded by the Wellcome Trust under an initiative to build the necessary research skills in Africa. This paper focuses on the research training needs of the consortium as identified during the first three years of the project