The Contributing Role of Prevalent Belief Systems to Intergroup Attitudes and Behaviors

Abundant research shows that prevalent belief systems across cultures contribute to people’s levels of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. Such popular belief systems are often communicated by everyday sayings (e.g., the belief that hard work leads to success, as captured by “Madruga y verás, trabaja y tendrás” [Colombia], “Kung may tiyaga, may nilaga” [Philippines], The early bird catches the worm [U.S.A.]). We review the relations between intergroup processes and the following belief systems: entity theory, incremental theory, multiculturalism, colorblindness, polyculturalism, and the Protestant work ethic. We discuss factors that affect the development, maintenance, and potential change in these belief systems, and ways that this knowledge may be used to reduce prejudice are discussed

Writing themselves in: a national report on the sexuality, health and well-being of same-sex attracted young people

This 1998 report is about young people who are attracted to their own sex. The need for accurate baseline figures about young people of non-heterosexual orientation has developed as part of a general concern about the spread of the HIV virus into the adolescent population and a specific concern around these young people’s emotional well-being. In the past three years, Australian adolescent research conducted by the National Centre in HIV Social Research, La Trobe University, has revealed that a significant minority of young people are not unequivocally heterosexual, with numbers ranging between 8 and 11% in recent research. Research which specifically targets this population has, until now, been conducted retrospectively and/or with people who identify as gay or lesbian recruited through gay and lesbian youth groups or the gay press. As researchers we know little about young people at pre-identity or pre-disclosure stages because their need for anonymity means they cannot be contacted through the usual channels. The young people represented in this project were accessed through an advertising campaign in National magazines, via radio and the Internet. A survey was available on a website and from the Centre for the Study of Sexually Transmissible Diseases. Surveys were also inserted in the gay and street press. These surveys sought information regarding sexual feelings and experiences as well as sexual and drug-taking practices in regard to STDs (including HIV) and related diseases. The source and adequacy of sexual health information for this group and their levels of support and experiences of abuse and discrimination were also elicited. The survey also charted young people’s perceptions of their quality of life and emotional well-being. In addition, participants were also asked to write stories about their experiences, including when they first knew about their sexual feelings, their relationships with family and friends, and their hopes for the future. &nbsp

Use and cost of disease-modifying therapies by Sonya Slifka Study participants: has anything really changed since 2000 and 2009?

Background:Disease-modifying therapies benefit individuals with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, but their utility remains unclear for those without relapses. Objective:To determine disease-modifying therapy use and costs in 2009, compare use in 2009 and 2000, and examine compliance with evidence-based guidelines. Methods:We determined the extent and characteristics of disease-modifying therapy use by participants in the Sonya Slifka Longitudinal Multiple Sclerosis Study (Slifka) in 2000 (n=2156) and 2009 (n=2361) and estimated out-of-pocket and total (payer) costs for 2009. Two multivariable logistic regressions predicted disease-modifying therapy use. Results:Disease-modifying therapy use increased from 55.3% in 2000 to 61.5% in 2009. In 2009, disease-modifying therapy use was reported by 76.5% of participants with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, 73.2% with progressive-relapsing multiple sclerosis, 62.5% with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, and 41.8% with primary progressive multiple sclerosis. Use was significantly associated with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, shorter duration of illness, one to two relapses per year, non-ambulatory symptoms, using a cane, younger age, higher family income, and having health insurance. Average annual costs in 2009 were US$939-3101 for patients and US$16,302-18,928 for payers. Conclusion:Use rates were highest for individuals with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, but substantial for those with progressive courses although clinical trials have not demonstrated significant benefits for them

Bayesian Models for Spatially Explicit Interactions Between Neighbouring Plants

Interactions between neighbouring plants drive population and community dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems. Understanding these interactions is critical for both fundamental and applied ecology. Spatial approaches to model neighbour interactions are necessary, as interaction strength depends on the distance between neighbouring plants. Recent Bayesian advancements, including the Hamiltonian Monte Carlo algorithm, offer the flexibility and speed to fit models of spatially explicit neighbour interactions. We present a guide for parameterizing these models in the Stan programming language and demonstrate how Bayesian computation can assist ecological inference on plant–plant interactions. Modelling plant neighbour interactions presents several challenges for ecological modelling. First, nonlinear models for distance decay can be prone to identifiability problems, resulting in lack of model convergence. Second, the pairwise data structure of plant–plant interaction matrices often leads to large matrices that demand high computational power. Third, hierarchical structure in plant–plant interaction data is ubiquitous, including repeated measurements within field plots, species and individuals. Hierarchical terms (e.g. ‘random effects’) can result in model convergence problems caused by correlations between coefficients. We explore modelling solutions for these challenges with examples representing spatial data on plant demographic rates: growth, survival and recruitment. We show that ragged matrices reduce computational challenges inherent to pairwise matrices, resulting in higher efficiency across data types. We also demonstrate how metrics for model convergence, including divergent transitions and effective sample size, can help diagnose problems that result from complex nonlinear structures. Finally, we explore when to use different model structures for hierarchical terms, including centred and non-centred parameterizations. We provide reproducible examples written in Stan to enable ecologists to fit and troubleshoot a broad range of neighbourhood interaction models. Spatially explicit models are increasingly central to many ecological questions. Our work illustrates how novel Bayesian tools can provide flexibility, speed and diagnostic capacity for fitting plant neighbour models to large, complex datasets. The methods we demonstrate are applicable to any dataset that includes a response variable and locations of observations, from forest inventory plots to remotely sensed imagery. Further developments in statistical models for neighbour interactions are likely to improve our understanding of plant population and community ecology across systems and scales

Supporting student development through a cooperative education coaching program

First published by International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning, https://www.ijwil.org/. This article may not be used for commercial gain unless by permission of the editor-in-chief.Uptake of new scopes of practice by pharmacists has been slow and inconsistent, which the literature suggests may be related to disconnects between pharmacists' established professional identities and the identities needed to adopt these new practices. This study evaluated the use of coaches to help pharmacy students during their cooperative education work terms develop professional identities more aligned with the new scopes of practice. In this longitudinal cross-sectional survey, trained pharmacist coaches met individually and in groups with students in the intervention arm of the study. Students and coaches in the intervention arm completed reflective questions and student intervention and control groups completed a self-assessment survey. Reflective comments indicated that both students and coaches identified student gains in career and professional planning, workplace navigation skills, ability to reflect on professional development topics, and contextualizing classroom learning within practice. Work-integrated learning combined with coaching can contribute to students' career and professional identity development.University of Waterloo Centre for Advancement of Cooperative Education (WatCACE

Policulturalismo: percebendo as conexões dinâmicas entre culturas e suas implicações sobre as atitudes interculturais na Colômbia

In our increasingly globalized world, we are more exposed to diverse people and cultures than ever before, making lay belief systems about cross-culturalinfluences as well as consequences of those beliefs for intercultural attitudes important to study. Over the past decade, there has been increasing immigration to Colombia, making it a particularly important place in which to understand people’s attitudes and intentions toward individuals from other countries. We previously found in the Philippines and the us that endorsement of polyculturalism —the belief that different racial and ethnic groups influence and are connected to each other— is associated to a range of positive intergroup attitudes. In the current research, we have built on  these past findings to contribute to our understanding of intercultural dynamics in Latin America, exploring polyculturalism in a cross-sectional survey study with 423 adults born and living in Colombia. We found that endorsement of polyculturalism was associated to more positive attitudes toward people from other countries and greater friendship intentions toward immigrants from other countries moving to Colombia, while controlling for social dominance orientation, national identification, and feelings toward the self. We also found that there were mean differences in people’s attitudes and friendship intentions toward people from different countries, based on type and level of cultural influence. But, type of country, social dominance orientation, and national identification did not moderate associations of polyculturalism with attitudes and friendship intentions, which suggests that these associations are consistent.Future directions and implications of polyculturalism for understanding intergroup relations around the world are discussed.Keywords: Colombia, diversity, globalization, immigrants,intercultural attitudes, intergroup relations, polyculturalism.En un mundo cada vez más globalizado, estamos cada vez más expuestos a personas y culturas diversas. De ahí la importancia de investigar los sistemas de creencias existentes sobre las influencias transculturales y sus consecuencias. El aumento reciente de la migración hace de Colombia un lugar particularmente interesante para el estudio de las actitudes e intenciones hacia individuos de otras culturas. Hallazgos previos en las Filipinas y Estados Unidos sugieren que la creencia en el policulturalismo —en que los diferentes grupos étnicos y raciales están conectados y se influencian mutuamente— está asociada con una variedad de actitudes positivas. Esta investigación construye sobre estos hallazgos y contribuye a la comprensión de las dinámicas con una variedad intercultural en América Latina, explorando sobre policulturalismo en un estudio transversal que incluyó 423 habitantes nativos colombianos. Encontramos que, controlando la orientación a la dominancia social, la identificación nacional, y la autoestima, la creencia en el policulturalismo está asociada a actitudes más positivas e intención de amistad hacia inmigrantes de otros países a Colombia. También encontramos diferencias significativas en las actitudes e intenciones de amistad hacia personas de diferentes países, dependiendo del tipo y nivel de influencia cultural. No encontramos evidencia de moderación de las asociaciones entre policulturalismo y actitudes e intenciones de amistad, por parte de las variables tipo de país, orientación a la dominancia social e identificación nacional, lo cual sugiere la consistencia de estas asociaciones. Finalmente discutimos las  implicaciones de estos hallazgos sobre el papel del policulturalismo en la comprensión de las relaciones intergrupales en el mundo.Palabras clave: Colombia, diversidad, globalización, inmigrantes, actitudes interculturales, relaciones intergrupales, policulturalismo.No mundo cada vez mais globalizado, estamos cada vez mais expostos a pessoas e culturas diversas. Daí a importância de investigar os sistemas de crenças existentes sobre as influências transculturais e suas consequências. O aumento recente da migração faz da Colômbia um lugar particularmente  interessante para o estudo das atitudes e intenções para indivíduos de outras culturas. Resultados prévios nas Filipinas e os Estados Unidos sugerem que a crença no policulturalismo –em que os diferentes grupos étnicos e raciais estão conectados e se influenciam mutuamente– está associada com variedade de  atitudes positivas. Esta pesquisa, constrói sobre estes resultados e contribui àcompreensão das dinâmicas interculturais na América Latina, explorando sobre policulturalismo em um estudo transversal que incluiu 423 habitantes nativoscolombianos. Encontramos que, controlando a orientação à dominância social, a identificação nacional, e a autoestima, a crença no policulturalismo está associada a atitudes mais positivas e intenção de Amizade a imigrantes de outros países à Colômbia. Também encontramos diferenças significativas nas atitudes e intenções de amizade a pessoas de diferentes países dependendo do tipo e nível de influência cultural. Não encontramos evidência de moderação das associações entre policulturalismo e atitudes e intenções de amizade, por parte das variáveis tipo de país, orientação à dominância social e identificação nacional o qual sugere a consistência destas associações. Finalmente discutimos as implicações destes resultados sobre o papel do policulturalismo na compreensão das relações intergrupais no mundo. Palavras-chave: Colômbia, diversidade, globalização, imigrantes, atitudes interculturais, relações intergrupais, policulturalismo

Scattered tree death contributes to substantial forest loss in California

In recent years, large-scale tree mortality events linked to global change have occurred around the world. Current forest monitoring methods are crucial for identifying mortality hotspots, but systematic assessments of isolated or scattered dead trees over large areas are needed to reduce uncertainty on the actual extent of tree mortality. Here, we mapped individual dead trees in California using sub-meter resolution aerial photographs from 2020 and deep learning-based dead tree detection. We identified 91.4 million dead trees over 27.8 million hectares of vegetated areas (16.7-24.7% underestimation bias when compared to field data). Among these, a total of 19.5 million dead trees appeared isolated, and 60% of all dead trees occurred in small groups ( ≤ 3 dead trees within a 30 × 30 m grid), which is largely undetected by other state-level monitoring methods. The widespread mortality of individual trees impacts the carbon budget and sequestration capacity of California forests and can be considered a threat to forest health and a fuel source for future wildfires

Risk-Sensitive Resource Defense in a Territorial Reef Fish

As coral reefs are home to dense aggregations of a variety of species, aggressive territoriality is often a critical component of individual behavior. Identification and assessment of the risk posed by intruders is crucial to defending a territory, and fishes on coral reefs have been found to attend to body shape, body size, and coloration when responding to intruders. We examined the extent to which dusky damselfish (Stegastes adustus) discriminate among distinct categories of intruders by measuring the distance at which a fish attacks an intruder and the relative intensity and frequency of those attacks. We found that S. adustus discriminated among perceived threats, attacking conspecifics more intensely and more often than egg-predators and herbivores, and showing a trend of attacking those groups more often than invertebrate-feeders, which do not compete with damselfish for resources. Furthermore, territory holders attacked initial-phase wrasses from a farther distance than terminal-phase wrasses, suggesting that they can discriminate among classes of individuals within a species other than their own. Dusky damselfish thus exhibit the ability to make fine distinctions among intruders in a diverse ecosystem

Predictors of Mortality Up to 1 Year After Emergency Major Abdominal Surgery in Older Adults

ackground The number of older patients who undergo emergent major abdominal procedures is expected to increase yet little is known about mortality beyond 30 days after surgery. Objective Identify factors associated with mortality among older patients at 30, 180 and 365 days after emergency major abdominal surgery. Design A retrospective study of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) linked to Medicare Claims from 2000-2010. Setting N/A Participants Medicare beneficiaries > 65.5 years enrolled in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) from 2000-2010, with at least one urgent/emergent major abdominal surgery and a core interview from the HRS within 3 years prior to surgery. Main Outcomes and Measures Survival analysis was used to describe all-cause mortality at 30, 180 and 365 days after surgery. Complementary log-log regression was used to identify patient characteristics and postoperative events associated with worse survival. Results 400 patients had one of the urgent/emergent surgeries of interest. Of these 24% were > 85 years; 50% had coronary artery disease, 48% had cancer, and 33% had congestive heart failure; and 37% experienced a postoperative complication. Postoperative mortality was 20%, 31% and 34% at 30, 180 days and 365 days. Among those > 85 years, 50% were dead one year after surgery. After multivariate adjustment including postoperative complications, dementia (Hazard ratio (HR) 2.02, 95%CI 1.24-3.31), hospitalization within 6 months before surgery (HR 1.63, 95% CI 1.12-2.28) and complications (HR 3.45, 95%CI (2.32-5.13) were independently associated with worse one-year survival. Conclusion Overall mortality is high up to one year after surgery in many older patients undergoing emergency major abdominal surgery. The occurrence of a complication is the clinical factor most strongly associated with worse survival