When white people experience the weight of the past:The role of white identity strategies in linking colonialism to current racial inequalities

How do White Europeans address racial inequalities in times of burgeoningdiscussions about colonialism? The current research explores the strategies that White people in the Netherlands use to manage their racial-ethnic identity in relation to linking colonialism and current racial inequalities. With this, we examined how White identity strategies were related to ideologies legitimizing racial inequalities. Using mixed-methods consisting of qualitative interviews (N = 24) and quantitative surveys (N = 564), we found that White people exhibited different combinations of prideful (“I am a proud person of our ethnic heritage”), dissociated (“My ethnic group does not have a significant impact on how I see the world”), and power-cognizant (“I am a White person with privileges because of my ethnic group”) identity strategies. Moreover, these White identity strategies were associated withlinking colonialism and racial inequalities and, thereby, with ideologies legitimizing them. Specifically, White people holding prideful and dissociated strategies were less likely to link colonialism and racial inequalities than White people who exclusively endorsed powercognizance. Furthermore, power-cognizant people challenged current-day racial inequalities the most. We conclude by discussing how White European people legitimize or question racial inequalities by managing their whiteness and the theoretical and practical implications of these findings

Sialic acids on B cells are crucial for their survival and provide protection against apoptosis.

Sialic acids (Sias) on the B cell membrane are involved in cell migration, in the control of the complement system and, as sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectin (Siglec) ligands, in the regulation of cellular signaling. We studied the role of sialoglycans on B cells in a mouse model with B cell-specific deletion of cytidine monophosphate sialic acid synthase (CMAS), the enzyme essential for the synthesis of sialoglycans. Surprisingly, these mice showed a severe B cell deficiency in secondary lymphoid organs. Additional depletion of the complement factor C3 rescued the phenotype only marginally, demonstrating a complement-independent mechanism. The B cell survival receptor BAFF receptor was not up-regulated, and levels of activated caspase 3 and processed caspase 8 were high in B cells of Cmas-deficient mice, indicating ongoing apoptosis. Overexpressed Bcl-2 could not rescue this phenotype, pointing to extrinsic apoptosis. These results show that sialoglycans on the B cell surface are crucial for B cell survival by counteracting several death-inducing pathways

Electromagnetic wave propagation in rain and polarization effects

This paper summarizes our study on microwave and millimeter-wave propagation in rain with special emphasis on the effects of polarization. Starting from a recount of our past findings, we will discuss developments with these and how they are connected with subsequent research

Interferometry of the plasma focus equipped with forehead cathode

The PF-1000 plasma-focus facility in Warsaw, equipped with Mather-type coaxial electrodes working with a deuterium filling, was modified by the addition of a cathode disk in front of the anode front-plate at a distance of 3 cm. The plasma was diagnosed with temporal resolved interferometry and neutron diagnostics. The modified electrode configuration showed an increase of the current in the pinch phase and a decrease of the total neutron yield. The lower total neutron yield is caused by a lower energy of deuterons producing the observed neutrons and by a decrease of the velocity of transformations of the structures in the pinch column