The Development and Validation of a Multidimensional Measure of Moral Orientation

Researchers have found that when individuals are faced with moral dilemmas, they tend to approach the situations with the same general perspective. This general perspective is referred to as their moral orientation. Studies have shown that moral orientations tend to be either justice or care focused. A justice orientation refers to a focus on rights, rules, and objective decision making. In contrast, individuals using a care orientation are more likely to consider relationships, contextual factors, and minimizing harm to others. Although numerous studies have reported individual differences in these orientations, the literature has failed to consider how individuals with “abnormal” moral development approach these dilemmas. As such, the goal of present study was to develop a measure of moral orientation that was able to capture adequately the orientations of those individuals with more maladaptive tendencies. This was achieved by assessing a novel moral orientation, termed self-promotion. After developing and administering this scale to two independent samples, a series of item analyses were conducted and items that failed to meet acceptable levels of psychometric criteria were deleted. The reduced scaled was factor analyzed and the results indicated three distinct care, justice, and self-promotion factors emerged for some scenarios, but not others, suggesting that further scale revisions are necessary. Despite some potentially problematic items, preliminary validity evidence was found, with significant correlations in the expected direction observed between each of the moral orientation dimensions and various Dark Triad and HEXACO personality traits

Phoebe 2.0 – Triple and multiple systems

Some close binary formation theories require the presence of a third body so that the binary orbit can shrink over time. Tidal friction and Kozai cycles transfer energy from the binary to its companion, resulting in a close inner binary and a wide third body orbit. Spectroscopy and imaging studies have found 40% of binaries with periods less than 10 days, and 96% with periods less than 3 days, have a wide tertiary companion. With recent advancements in large photometric surveys, we are now beginning to detect many of these triple systems by observing tertiary eclipses or through the effect they have on the eclipse timing variations (ETVs) of the inner-binary. In the sample of 2600 Kepler EBs, we have detected the possible presence of a third body in ∼20%, including several circumbinary planets. Some multiple systems are quite dynamical and feature disappearing and reappearing eclipses, apsidal motion, and large disruptions to the inner-binary. phoebe is a freely available binary modeling code which can dynamically model all of these systems, allowing us to better test formation theories and probe the physics of eclipsing binaries

PHOEBE 2.0 – Where no model has gone before

phoebe 2.0 is an open source framework bridging the gap between stellar observations and models. It allows to create and fit models simultaneously and consistently to a wide range of observational data such as photometry, spectroscopy, spectrapolarimetry, interferometry and astrometry. To reach the level of precision required by the newest generation of instruments such as Kepler, GAIA and the arrays of large telescopes, the code is set up to handle a wide range of phenomena such as multiplicity, rotation, pulsations and magnetic fields, and to model the involved physics to a new level

Calving difficulty influences rumination time and inflammatory profile in Holstein dairy cows

Difficult calving may adversely affect dairy cow health and performance. Maternal:fetal disproportion is a major cause of dystocia. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to assess the effects of dam:calf body weight ratio (D:C) on calving difficulty, rumination time, lying time, and inflammatory profile in 25 Holstein dairy cows. Using automatic monitoring systems, we monitored behavior and production in 9 primiparous and 16 pluriparous cows between dry-off and 30 d in milk. During the same period, we collected blood samples to monitor metabolism and inflammatory profile of these cows. Calvings were video recorded to assess calving difficulty and observe the duration of the expulsive stage. After parturition, the cows were separated into 3 classes according to their D:C: easy (E; D:C >17), medium (M; 14 < D:C <17), and difficult (D; D:C <14). The cows in class D showed relatively longer labor durations (108 min vs. 54 and 51 min for classes D, M, and E, respectively) and higher calving assistance rates (50% vs. 0 and 11% of calvings for classes D, M, and E, respectively) than those in the other 2 classes. Compared with the cows in classes M and E, those in class D exhibited shorter rumination times on the day of calving (176 min/d vs. 288 and 354 min/d for classes D, M, and E, respectively) and during the first week of lactation (312 min/d vs. 339 and 434 min/d for classes D, M, and E, respectively) and maintained lower rumination values until 30 DIM (399 min/d vs. 451 and 499 min/d for classes D, M, and E, respectively). Primiparous class D cows had shorter resting times during the first week after calving compared with those in class M (8 vs. 11 h/d for classes D and M, respectively). Interclass differences were found in terms of the levels of inflammation markers such as acute-phase proteins (ceruloplasmin, albumin, retinol, and paraoxonase). Moreover, cows in class D had lower plasma levels of fructosamine and creatinine after calving. Low D:C reduced postcalving rumination time and increased inflammation grade, suggesting a lower welfare of these animals at the onset of lactation. The D:C might serve as a useful index for the identification of cows at relatively higher risk of metabolic and inflammatory disease, thus helping farmers and veterinarians improve the welfare and health of these cows

A behavioral genetic study of humor styles in an Australian sample

The present study investigated the extent to which individual differences in humor styles are attributable to genetic and/or environmental factors in an Australian sample. Participants were 934 same-sex pairs of adult twins from the Australian Twin Registry (546 monozygotic pairs, 388 dizygotic pairs) who completed the Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ). The HSQ measures four distinct styles of humor - affiliative, self-enhancing, aggressive, and self-defeating. Results revealed that additive genetic and non-shared environmental factors accounted for the variance in all four humor styles, thus replicating results previously obtained in a sample of twins from the United Kingdom. However, a study conducted with a U.S. sample produced different results and we interpret these findings in terms of cross-cultural differences in humor

Taking a Person-Centered Approach to Personality: A Latent-Profile Analysis of the HEXACO Model of Personality

Our study applies a person-centered approach to the HEXACO model of personality using latent profile analysis (LPA). While the traditional variable-centered approach assumes that the relations among variables within a population are homogenous, the person-centered approach identifies subgroups within samples that have similar scores on several variables of interest, in this case, the six factors of personality. Data from two independent samples were collected at a large North American university. The results of LPA revealed five distinct and interpretable profiles that replicated and were found to be consistent across both samples. We discuss how our findings attest to the meaningfulness of personality profiles, and suggest additional ways in which a person-centered approach might be applied in personality research

Artificial Intelligence Approach to the Determination of Physical Properties of Eclipsing Binaries. I. The EBAI Project

Achieving maximum scientific results from the overwhelming volume of astronomical data to be acquired over the next few decades will demand novel, fully automatic methods of data analysis. Artificial intelligence approaches hold great promise in contributing to this goal. Here we apply neural network learning technology to the specific domain of eclipsing binary (EB) stars, of which only some hundreds have been rigorously analyzed, but whose numbers will reach millions in a decade. Well-analyzed EBs are a prime source of astrophysical information whose growth rate is at present limited by the need for human interaction with each EB data-set, principally in determining a starting solution for subsequent rigorous analysis. We describe the artificial neural network (ANN) approach which is able to surmount this human bottleneck and permit EB-based astrophysical information to keep pace with future data rates. The ANN, following training on a sample of 33,235 model light curves, outputs a set of approximate model parameters (T2/T1, (R1+R2)/a, e sin(omega), e cos(omega), and sin i) for each input light curve data-set. The whole sample is processed in just a few seconds on a single 2GHz CPU. The obtained parameters can then be readily passed to sophisticated modeling engines. We also describe a novel method polyfit for pre-processing observational light curves before inputting their data to the ANN and present the results and analysis of testing the approach on synthetic data and on real data including fifty binaries from the Catalog and Atlas of Eclipsing Binaries (CALEB) database and 2580 light curves from OGLE survey data. [abridged]Comment: 52 pages, accepted to Ap

Pleural myxoid liposarcoma: features of 2 cases and associated literature review

Primary pleural myxoid liposarcoma is a rare entity and no agreed treatment options have been formulated once diagnosis has been made. We report two cases with subsequent management and make recommendations for treatment pathways in these rare cases

The synthesis, characterization and targeting ability of nano-scale enrichment polymer layers

Thin polymer films have been utilized as enrichment layers for evanescent waveguide chemical sensors and other analytical techniques. This is due to the fact that the chemical nature of polymers is ideal for trapping chemically similar organic molecules making analysis more convenient. Specifically, research in this area of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) detection, focused has been given to identifying a single polymer film of micron scale thickness to target one analyte. This work focuses on the design and use of multiple polymers in one enrichment layer to target VOCs to facilitate detection. Two distinct layered enrichment systems were synthesized via the “grafting to” approach. The end application is to apply these polymers onto mid-infrared transparent evanescent wave micro-disk or micro-ring resonators. Analysis of the polymer affinity to VOCs and to act as enrichment layers is determined by the thickness increase caused by swelling of the film when exposed to the analyte vapor. Detection analysis was done using attenuated total reflection (ATR) FT-IR spectroscopy. The polymer layered systems were characterized by atomic force microscopy, ellipsometry and infrared spectroscopy. Studies of pure analyte vapors and mixtures were conducted in saturated conditions

Effect of ewe diet on milk and muscle fatty acid composition of suckling lambs of the protected geographical origin abbacchio romano

Consumers increasingly pay more attention to the lipid profile of meat products and consume less meat to reduce cholesterol and heart disease. In Italy, sheep producers are increasingly feeding sheep fresh forage. We investigated whether the supplementation of dam diet with extruded linseed would be an alternative strategy to pasture for improving the intramuscular and subcutaneous FA compositions of their suckling lambs. The ewe diets were enriched with either extruded linseed (L), un-supplemented farm diet (F), or pasture (P). Milk saturated fatty acids (SFA) decreased in P and L compared with F, while the opposite pattern was observed for polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) and conjugated linoleic acids after seven days. The FA composition of lamb meat was similar to that of their dam\u2019s milk, showing higher PUFA in P and L compared to F, while SFA was higher in F. Regarding the lamb meat obtained from barn-held ewes, L had lower n-6/n-3 content compared to F, while an intermediate content was found in P. These results indicate a better n-3 FA profile in milk and lamb\u2019s meat from pasture and linseed-enriched diets. No changes in lamb performance were observed