The Greta Thunberg Effect: Familiarity with Greta Thunberg predicts intentions to engage in climate activism in the United States

Funder: Energy Foundation; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100005710Funder: MacArthur Foundation; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000870Funder: 11th Hour FoundationAbstract: Despite Greta Thunberg's popularity, research has yet to investigate her impact on the public's willingness to take collective action on climate change. Using cross‐sectional data from a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults (N = 1,303), we investigate the “Greta Thunberg Effect,” or whether exposure to Greta Thunberg predicts collective efficacy and intentions to engage in collective action. We find that those who are more familiar with Greta Thunberg have higher intentions of taking collective actions to reduce global warming and that stronger collective efficacy beliefs mediate this relationship. This association between familiarity with Greta Thunberg, collective efficacy beliefs, and collective action intentions is present even after accounting for respondents’ overall support for climate activism. Moderated mediation models testing age and political ideology as moderators of the “Greta Thunberg Effect” indicate that although the indirect effect of familiarity with Greta Thunberg via collective efficacy is present across all age‐groups, and across the political spectrum, it may be stronger among those who identify as more liberal (than conservative). Our findings suggest that young public figures like Greta Thunberg may motivate collective action across the U.S. public, but their effect may be stronger among those with a shared political ideology. Implications for future research and for broadening climate activists’ appeals across the political spectrum are discussed

The dynamics of risk perceptions and precautionary behavior in response to 2009 (H1N1) pandemic influenza

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The trajectory of an infectious disease outbreak is affected by the behavior of individuals, and the behavior is often related to individuals' risk perception. We assessed temporal changes and geographical differences in risk perceptions and precautionary behaviors in response to H1N1 influenza.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>1,290 US adults completed an online survey on risk perceptions, interests in pharmaceutical interventions (preventive intervention and curative intervention), and engagement in precautionary activities (information seeking activities and taking quarantine measures) in response to H1N1 influenza between April 28 and May 27 2009. Associations of risk perceptions and precautionary behaviors with respondents' sex, age, and household size were analyzed. Linear and quadratic time trends were assessed by regression analyses. Geographic differences in risk perception and precautionary behaviors were evaluated. Predictors of willingness to take pharmaceutical intervention were analyzed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Respondents from larger households reported stronger interest in taking medications and engaged in more precautionary activities, as would be normatively predicted. Perceived risk increased over time, whereas interest in pharmaceutical preventive interventions and the engagement in some precautionary activities decreased over time. Respondents who live in states with higher H1N1 incidence per population perceived a higher likelihood of influenza infection, but did not express greater interests in pharmaceutical interventions, nor did they engage in a higher degree of precautionary activities. Perceived likelihood of influenza infection, willingness to take medications and engagement in information seeking activities were higher for women than men.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Perceived risk of infection and precautionary behavior can be dynamic in time, and differ by demographic characteristics and geographical locations. These patterns will likely influence the effectiveness of disease control measures.</p

Factors associated with mortality in HIV-infected and uninfected patients with pulmonary tuberculosis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>HIV has fuelled the TB epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Mortality in patients co-infected with TB and HIV is high. Managing factors influencing mortality in TB patients might help reducing it. This study investigates factors associated with mortality including patients' HIV sero-status, CD4 cell count, laboratory, nutritional and demographic characteristics in AFB smear positive pulmonary TB patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We studied 887 sputum smear positive PTB patients, between 18 and 65 years of age receiving standard 8 months anti-TB treatment. Demographic, anthropometric and laboratory data including HIV, CD4 and other tests were collected at baseline and at regular intervals. Patients were followed for a median period of 2.5 years.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 887 participants, 155 (17.5%) died, of whom 90.3% (140/155) were HIV-infected, a fatality of 29.7% (140/471) compared to 3.6% (15/416) among HIV-uninfected. HIV infection, age, low Karnofsky score, CD4 cell counts and hemoglobin, high viral load, and oral thrush were significantly associated with high mortality in all patients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Mortality among HIV-infected TB patients is high despite the use of effective anti-TB therapy. Most deaths occur after successful completion of therapy, an indication that patients die from causes other than TB. HIV infection is the strongest independent predictor of mortality in this cohort.</p

Higher education delays and shortens cognitive impairment. A multistate life table analysis of the US Health and Retirement Study

Improved health may extend or shorten the duration of cognitive impairment by postponing incidence or death. We assess the duration of cognitive impairment in the US Health and Retirement Study (1992–2004) by self reported BMI, smoking and levels of education in men and women and three ethnic groups. We define multistate life tables by the transition rates to cognitive impairment, recovery and death and estimate Cox proportional hazard ratios for the studied determinants. 95% confidence intervals are obtained by bootstrapping. 55 year old white men and women expect to live 25.4 and 30.0 years, of which 1.7 [95% confidence intervals 1.5; 1.9] years and 2.7 [2.4; 2.9] years with cognitive impairment. Both black men and women live 3.7 [2.9; 4.5] years longer with cognitive impairment than whites, Hispanic men and women 3.2 [1.9; 4.6] and 5.8 [4.2; 7.5] years. BMI makes no difference. Smoking decreases the duration of cognitive impairment with 0.8 [0.4; 1.3] years by high mortality. Highly educated men and women live longer, but 1.6 years [1.1; 2.2] and 1.9 years [1.6; 2.6] shorter with cognitive impairment than lowly educated men and women. The effect of education is more pronounced among ethnic minorities. Higher life expectancy goes together with a longer period of cognitive impairment, but not for higher levels of education: that extends life in good cognitive health but shortens the period of cognitive impairment. The increased duration of cognitive impairment in minority ethnic groups needs further study, also in Europe

The Mixed-Lineage Kinase DLK Is a Key Regulator of 3T3-L1 Adipocyte Differentiation

The mixed-lineage kinase (MLK) family member DLK has been proposed to serve as a regulator of differentiation in various cell types; however, its role in adipogenesis has not been investigated. In this study, we used the 3T3-L1 preadipocyte cell line as a model to examine the function of DLK in adipocyte differentiation.Immunoblot analyses and kinase assays performed on 3T3-L1 cells showed that the expression and activity of DLK substantially increase as differentiation occurs. Interestingly, DLK appears crucial for differentiation since its depletion by RNA interference impairs lipid accumulation as well as expression of the master regulators of adipogenesis C/EBPalpha and PPARgamma2 at both the mRNA and protein levels. In contrast, neither the expression nor the DNA binding activity of C/EBPbeta, an activator for C/EBPalpha and PPARgamma, is affected by DLK loss.Taken together, these results suggest that DLK is important for expression of mature adipocyte markers and that its action most likely takes place via regulation of C/EBPbeta transcriptional activity and/or initiation of C/EBPalpha and PPARgamma2 gene transcription

The impact of mass gatherings and holiday traveling on the course of an influenza pandemic: a computational model

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>During the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, concerns arose about the potential negative effects of mass public gatherings and travel on the course of the pandemic. Better understanding the potential effects of temporal changes in social mixing patterns could help public officials determine if and when to cancel large public gatherings or enforce regional travel restrictions, advisories, or surveillance during an epidemic.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We develop a computer simulation model using detailed data from the state of Georgia to explore how various changes in social mixing and contact patterns, representing mass gatherings and holiday traveling, may affect the course of an influenza pandemic. Various scenarios with different combinations of the length of the mass gatherings or traveling period (range: 0.5 to 5 days), the proportion of the population attending the mass gathering events or on travel (range: 1% to 50%), and the initial reproduction numbers R₀(1.3, 1.5, 1.8) are explored.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mass gatherings that occur within 10 days before the epidemic peak can result in as high as a 10% relative increase in the peak prevalence and the total attack rate, and may have even worse impacts on local communities and travelers' families. Holiday traveling can lead to a second epidemic peak under certain scenarios. Conversely, mass traveling or gatherings may have little effect when occurring much earlier or later than the epidemic peak, e.g., more than 40 days earlier or 20 days later than the peak when the initial R₀= 1.5.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results suggest that monitoring, postponing, or cancelling large public gatherings may be warranted close to the epidemic peak but not earlier or later during the epidemic. Influenza activity should also be closely monitored for a potential second peak if holiday traveling occurs when prevalence is high.</p

Assessment of habitat and survey criteria for the great crested newt (Triturus cristatus) in Scotland: a case study on a translocated population

The great crested newt Triturus cristatus has declined across its range due to habitat loss, motivating research into biotic and abiotic species determinants. However, research has focused on populations in England and mainland Europe. We examined habitat and survey criteria for great crested newts in Scotland, with focus on a large, translocated population. Adult counts throughout the breeding season were obtained annually using torchlight surveys, and Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) assessed at created ponds (N = 24) in 2006 (immediately post-translocation) and 2015 (9 years post-translocation). In 2006, ‘best case’ HSI scores were calculated to predict habitat suitability should great crested newts have unrestricted access to terrestrial habitat. Abiotic criteria included in and omitted from current great crested newt survey guidelines were assessed using data recorded in 2015. Some ponds had improved HSI scores in 2015, but overall failure to meet predicted scores suggests management is needed to improve habitat suitability. Great crested newt activity was positively associated with moon visibility and phase, air temperature, and pH, but negatively correlated with water clarity. Importantly, our results indicate there are abiotic determinants specific to Scottish great crested newts. Principally, survey temperature thresholds should be lowered to enable accurate census of Scottish populations

Forest landscape ecology and global change: an introduction

Forest landscape ecology examines broad-scale patterns and processes and their interactions in forested systems and informs the management of these ecosystems. Beyond being among the richest and the most complex terrestrial systems, forest landscapes serve society by providing an array of products and services and, if managed properly, can do so sustainably. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the field of forest landscape ecology, including major historical and present topics of research, approaches, scales, and applications, particularly those concerning edges, fragmentation, connectivity, disturbance, and biodiversity. In addition, we discuss causes of change in forest landscapes, particularly land-use and management changes, and the expected structural and functional consequences that may result from these drivers. This chapter is intended to set the context and provide an overview for the remainder of the book and poses a broad set of questions related to forest landscape ecology and global change that need answers

Global, local and focused geographic clustering for case-control data with residential histories

BACKGROUND: This paper introduces a new approach for evaluating clustering in case-control data that accounts for residential histories. Although many statistics have been proposed for assessing local, focused and global clustering in health outcomes, few, if any, exist for evaluating clusters when individuals are mobile. METHODS: Local, global and focused tests for residential histories are developed based on sets of matrices of nearest neighbor relationships that reflect the changing topology of cases and controls. Exposure traces are defined that account for the latency between exposure and disease manifestation, and that use exposure windows whose duration may vary. Several of the methods so derived are applied to evaluate clustering of residential histories in a case-control study of bladder cancer in south eastern Michigan. These data are still being collected and the analysis is conducted for demonstration purposes only. RESULTS: Statistically significant clustering of residential histories of cases was found but is likely due to delayed reporting of cases by one of the hospitals participating in the study. CONCLUSION: Data with residential histories are preferable when causative exposures and disease latencies occur on a long enough time span that human mobility matters. To analyze such data, methods are needed that take residential histories into account

Different Transcriptional Control of Metabolism and Extracellular Matrix in Visceral and Subcutaneous Fat of Obese and Rimonabant Treated Mice

BACKGROUND: The visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous (SCAT) adipose tissues play different roles in physiology and obesity. The molecular mechanisms underlying their expansion in obesity and following body weight reduction are poorly defined. METHODOLOGY: C57Bl/6 mice fed a high fat diet (HFD) for 6 months developed low, medium, or high body weight as compared to normal chow fed mice. Mice from each groups were then treated with the cannabinoid receptor 1 antagonist rimonabant or vehicle for 24 days to normalize their body weight. Transcriptomic data for visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissues from each group of mice were obtained and analyzed to identify: i) genes regulated by HFD irrespective of body weight, ii) genes whose expression correlated with body weight, iii) the biological processes activated in each tissue using gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), iv) the transcriptional programs affected by rimonabant. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In VAT, "metabolic" genes encoding enzymes for lipid and steroid biosynthesis and glucose catabolism were down-regulated irrespective of body weight whereas "structure" genes controlling cell architecture and tissue remodeling had expression levels correlated with body weight. In SCAT, the identified "metabolic" and "structure" genes were mostly different from those identified in VAT and were regulated irrespective of body weight. GSEA indicated active adipogenesis in both tissues but a more prominent involvement of tissue stroma in VAT than in SCAT. Rimonabant treatment normalized most gene expression but further reduced oxidative phosphorylation gene expression in SCAT but not in VAT. CONCLUSION: VAT and SCAT show strikingly different gene expression programs in response to high fat diet and rimonabant treatment. Our results may lead to identification of therapeutic targets acting on specific fat depots to control obesity