Development of intraindividual value structures in middle childhood: A multicultural and longitudinal investigation

Objective We examined changes in value interrelations during middle childhood. In line with the Personal Values Theory, we expected a value system, with individuals similarly valuing related motivations, and setting priorities between conflicting motivations. We hypothesized this system to develop dynamically during middle childhood as children deepen their understanding of their own values. Method Using unfolding analysis, we estimated intraindividual value structure coherence, that is, the extent to which the interrelations among a child's values are similar to the hypothesized interrelations. Cross-Cultural Study 1 (N = 4615, 6–12-year-old children) included children from 12 countries. Cross-Sequential Study 2 (N = 629, 6–10-year-old children at Time 1) included three annual measurements. Results In Study 1, we found a curvilinear association between age and intraindividual value structure coherence: Children's values were more coherent at ages 9–10 than before or after. Study 2 confirmed this pattern of within-individual development. Conclusions We propose that development in coherence with the theoretical value structure offers insight into children's understanding of values as well as changes in value priorities

Anticipation, Autonomic Regulation, and ACEs

Stress and anticipation are some of the most commonly talked about topics in the current age of self-help and wellness. Anticipatory stress has been found to aid in autonomic regulation and stress relief (Nasso et al., 2018). What’s more, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been previously associated with a blunted response to stress, but the mechanisms have not been investigated. The primary aim of this study was to identify if the anticipation of a stressor significantly influenced an individual’s autonomic response. Additionally, it sought to identify any correlation between childhood trauma and individuals’ stress response. Participants were comprised of undergraduate students at Belmont University. Heart rate was measured using an ECG through a BIOPAC system. ACE scores were collected through an ACE survey administered through Qualtrics in which students could answer “yes” or “no” to given questions. The expected results indicate that the presence of a stressful event may not influence an individual\u27s stress response. Further, the presence of a stressful event may not correlate with autonomic regulation time. These findings are inconsistent with the results gathered in previous studies. However, the results may aid in future research concerning anticipatory stress, autonomic regulation, and ACEs

Ready for the Worst? Negative Affect in Anticipation of a Stressor Does Not Protect Against Affective Reactivity.

Lay wisdom suggests feeling negative while awaiting an upcoming stressor - anticipatory negative affect - shields against the blow of the subsequent stressor. However, evidence is mixed, with different lines of research and theory indirectly suggesting that anticipatory negative affect is helpful, harmful, or has no effect on emotional outcomes. In two studies, we aimed to reconcile these competing views by examining the affective trajectory across hours, days, and months, separating affective reactivity and recovery. In Study 1, first-year students (N=101) completed 9 days of experience sampling (10 surveys/day) as they received their first-semester exam grades, and a follow-up survey 5 months later. In Study 2, participants (N=73) completed 2 days of experience sampling (60 surveys/day) before and after a Trier Social Stress Test. We investigated the association between anticipatory negative affect and the subsequent affective trajectory, investigating (1) reactivity immediately after the stressor, (2) recovery across hours (Study 2) and days (Study 1), and (3) recovery after 5 months (Study 1). Across the two studies, feeling more negative in anticipation of a stressor was either associated with increased negative affective reactivity, or unassociated with affective outcomes. These results run counter to the idea that being affectively ready for the worst has psychological benefits, suggesting that instead, anticipatory negative affect can come with affective costs

Tending to scalar ambiguity

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building.As landscape architecture increasingly engages with digital technology in all aspects of design, there is a risk of overlooking the speed, distance, simplifications and finality of technological solutionism. Such tendencies of solutionism do not lend themselves to alternative and varied understandings of more-than-human landscapes, and this is particularly concerning in the initial stages of site analysis, which provide an important foundation for design. To explore slower, direct and open-ended landscape architectural methods of site analysis and documentation, this research tends to the present ecology within a small-scale, suburban landscape. A conceptual framework of fungi provides a point of contrast to one’s experience of site, embracing complex, entangled and multi-scalar ways of knowing and rhizomorphic connectivity. The method of gardening holds space for a close, iterative and collaborative relationship with site, while storytelling is embraced as a sensemaking tool that can hold multiple scales, relationships, and ways of knowing together. Considered for how they prompt a continual return to site, these methods allow time and space for intricate ecologies and different understandings of site to emerge, inviting landscape architects to tend to the ambiguity, nuance and scalar complexity of landscapes

Nanoscale imaging of equilibrium quantum Hall edge currents and of the magnetic monopole response in graphene

The recently predicted topological magnetoelectric effect and the response to an electric charge that mimics an induced mirror magnetic monopole are fundamental attributes of topological states of matter with broken time reversal symmetry. Using a SQUID-on-tip, acting simultaneously as a tunable scanning electric charge and as ultrasensitive nanoscale magnetometer, we induce and directly image the microscopic currents generating the magnetic monopole response in a graphene quantum Hall electron system. We find a rich and complex nonlinear behavior governed by coexistence of topological and nontopological equilibrium currents that is not captured by the monopole models. Furthermore, by utilizing a tuning fork that induces nanoscale vibrations of the SQUID-on-tip, we directly image the equilibrium currents of individual quantum Hall edge states for the first time. We reveal that the edge states that are commonly assumed to carry only a chiral downstream current, in fact carry a pair of counterpropagating currents, in which the topological downstream current in the incompressible region is always counterbalanced by heretofore unobserved nontopological upstream current flowing in the adjacent compressible region. The intricate patterns of the counterpropagating equilibrium-state orbital currents provide new insights into the microscopic origins of the topological and nontopological charge and energy flow in quantum Hall systems

Space Microbial Ecology

With the expansion of human space exploration, there is a growing demand to better understand the impacts of space stressors. These stressors include microgravity (µG), space radiation, extreme temperatures, and extreme isolation. Ongoing research has demonstrated that the space environment alters the physiology of bacteria. The changes observed have included increases in biofilm formation, antibiotic resistance, and growth rate. Understanding the effects on bacteria in these conditions is vital as they can affect astronaut health, spacecraft life support systems, and space crops used for food. The ERAU Space Microbiology Lab (SML) is working to identify how microbial communities are impacted by simulated µG. In natural microbial communities (e.g., human gut microbiome), bacteria can develop antagonistic or synergistic relationships between different species. Based on what we know about the response of individual species to space conditions, their interaction with other species and the host can change as well. By observing community development in simulated µG, we can gain insight on how microbial communities naturally adapt to the space environment. Our research is focused on observing the changes of a mixed culture of two bacteria subjected to simulated µG using the EagleStat, a microgravity analog developed by the SML. The mixed culture consists of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus epidermidis bacteria due to the ability to separate the bacteria visually and physically after simulated µG exposure. Bacterial response will be evaluated by colony composition, biofilm development, antibiotic resistance, and differential gene expression of biofilm and virulence related genes

Structural and Dielectric Characterization of La Modified PZT (52/48) Nano Ceramic Material for Electronic Applications

The objective of the presented work is to investigate the effects of varying concentration of La as hard dopant on structural, morphological and dielectric properties of lead zirconium titanate (PZT). The base material PZT was prepared by sol-gel technique on lab scale to reduce the injection of sintering defects. After addition of varying weight percentage of La, the different composite materials were analyzed under scanning electron microscope to study the structural modifications taking place. X-Ray diffraction patterns were studied in combination with variation of dielectric constant with temperature and frequency. it is observed that a single phase perovskite structure with tetragonal phase is formed for all compositions of PLZT. The dielectric constant of undoped PZT is found to be 11,300 at a temperature of 500OC and frequency of 100Hz. The results further indicate that the dielectric properties of the pure-phase PZT are better than La doped PZT at higher temperature