Examining mindfulness-based training effects upon uncertainty reduction in initial interaction between strangers

2015 Spring.Includes bibliographical references.This research project is meant to supplement the extant literature on initial interaction between strangers. The central inquiries of this study examine whether individuals can reduce relational automaticity found in initial interactions and, in turn, embody more openness toward strangers. The study investigates the growing field of mindfulness practice, known for reducing behavioral automaticity and boosting pro-social effects, and determines how it impacts the relational outcomes in initial interaction. To accomplish this, it compares the performance of two experimental groups in initial interaction, one group that is exposed to a mindfulness treatment and one control. By analyzing the participants' uncertainty reduction strategies, this research aims to determine whether mindfulness plays a moderating role for uncertainty reduction in initial interaction

On the functional limits for sums of a function of partial sums

We derive a functional central limit theorem (fclt) for normalised sums of a function of the partial sums of independent and identically distributed random variables. In particular, we show, using a technique presented in Huang and Zhang (Electron. Comm. Probab. 12 (2007), 51--56), that the result from Qi (Statist. Probab. Lett. 62 (2003), 93--100), for normalised products of partial sums, can be generalised in this fashion to a fclt

Familiarity-based stimulus generalization of conditioned suppression

We report that stimulus novelty/familiarity is able to modulate stimulus generalization and discuss the theoretical implications of novelty/familiarity coding. Rats in Skinner boxes received clicker → shock pairings before generalization testing to a tone. Before clicker training, different groups of rats received preexposure treatments designed to systematically modulate the clicker and the tone's novelty and familiarity. Rats whose preexposure matched novelty/familiarity (i.e., either both or neither clicker and tone were pre-exposed) showed enhanced suppression to the tone relative to rats whose preexposure mixed novelty/familiarity (i.e., only clicker or tone was pre-exposed). This was not the result of sensory preconditioning to clicker and tone

Theorizing Potential Downstream Cultural Consequences of LGBT+ Activism

Abstract To what extent does local LGBT+ activism have impacts beyond its immediate surroundings? We offer a theoretical framework emphasizing how a combination of local movement visibility and LGBT+ cultural receptivity can account for disseminating influences of LGBT+ activism. We illustrate our framework in part through an analysis of the potential diffusion of LGBT+ support in Bosnia in the aftermath of the country’s first-ever Pride. Our model explains why the 2019 Sarajevo Pride increased LGBT+ support locally but had no immediate effects on attitudes in greater Bosnia. It also explains why LGBT+ support has since expanded beyond the capital to Bosnia’s surrounding regions in a follow-up 2021 study. Even when local LGBT+ visibility is low or nonexistent, underlying cultural receptivity can be conducive to the gradual diffusion of LGBT+ support. Moreover, the challenging circumstances of the pandemic did not undermine the expansion of LGBT+ tolerance across Bosnia. Our findings illustrate the persistent power as well as limitations of LGBT+ activism to usher in downstream cultural change

Dirty black holes: Entropy versus area

Considerable interest has recently been expressed in the entropy versus area relationship for ``dirty'' black holes --- black holes in interaction with various classical matter fields, distorted by higher derivative gravity, or infested with various forms of quantum hair. In many cases it is found that the entropy is simply related to the area of the event horizon: S = k A_H/(4\ell_P^2). For example, the ``entropy = (1/4) area'' law *holds* for: Schwarzschild, Reissner--Nordstrom, Kerr--Newman, and dilatonic black holes. On the other hand, the ``entropy = (1/4) area'' law *fails* for: various types of (Riemann)^n gravity, Lovelock gravity, and various versions of quantum hair. The pattern underlying these results is less than clear. This paper systematizes these results by deriving a general formula for the entropy: S = {k A_H/(4\ell_P^2)} + {1/T_H} \int_\Sigma [rho - {L}_E ] K^\mu d\Sigma_\mu + \int_\Sigma s V^\mu d\Sigma_\mu. (K^\mu is the timelike Killing vector, V^\mu the four velocity of a co--rotating observer.) If no hair is present the validity of the ``entropy = (1/4) area'' law reduces to the question of whether or not the Lorentzian energy density for the system under consideration is formally equal to the Euclideanized Lagrangian. ****** To appear in Physical Review D 15 July 1993 ****** [Stylistic changes, minor typos fixed, references updated, discussion of the Born-Infeld system excised]Comment: plain LaTeX, 17 pages, minor revision

Rapid Targeted Gene Disruption in Bacillus Anthracis

Anthrax is a zoonotic disease recognized to affect herbivores since Biblical times and has the widest range of susceptible host species of any known pathogen. The ease with which the bacterium can be weaponized and its recent deliberate use as an agent of terror, have highlighted the importance of gaining a deeper understanding and effective countermeasures for this important pathogen. High quality sequence data has opened the possibility of systematic dissection of how genes distributed on both the bacterial chromosome and associated plasmids have made it such a successful pathogen. However, low transformation efficiency and relatively few genetic tools for chromosomal manipulation have hampered full interrogation of its genome. Results: Group II introns have been developed into an efficient tool for site-specific gene inactivation in several organisms. We have adapted group II intron targeting technology for application in Bacillus anthracis and generated vectors that permit gene inactivation through group II intron insertion. The vectors developed permit screening for the desired insertion through PCR or direct selection of intron insertions using a selection scheme that activates a kanamycin resistance marker upon successful intron insertion. Conclusions: The design and vector construction described here provides a useful tool for high throughput experimental interrogation of the Bacillus anthracis genome and will benefit efforts to develop improved vaccines and therapeutics.Chem-Bio Diagnostics program from the Department of Defense Chemical and Biological Defense program through the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) B102387MNIH GM037949Welch Foundation F-1607Cellular and Molecular Biolog

Climate Impacts on North American Quail

North America’s quail population trends are often linked to regional climate. Extreme climate events such as severe drought, hard freezes, or excessive winter precipitation can reduce quail populations by as much as 84%. Above-average spring and summer temperatures coincident with drought can reduce the laying season for quail by ≤60 days. Exposure of quail eggs to high temperatures during preincubation can initiate and alter embryonic development. Here, we review the impacts of extreme climate events and a changing climate on the survival, reproduction, and population trends of 6 North American quail species: California quail (Callipepla californica), Gambel’s quail (Callipepla gambelii), Montezuma quail (Cyrtonix montezumae), mountain quail (Oreortyx pictus), northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus), and scaled quail (Callipepla squamata). Climate change scenarios are especially troubling when considered in conjunction with the heat stress hypothesis, which suggests that reproduction is reduced during heat and drought events by elevated corticosterone levels due to heat stress. Global climate change is predicted to increase the west-to-east precipitation gradient across North America. While eastern North America will see more frequent heavy precipitation events, western North America will experience more frequent and severe spring heat waves, droughts, and wildfires. These will further imperil western quail populations in the near term by decreasing the frequency of successful reproductive events. Over the long term, we expect both an elevational increase and southwest-to-northeast shift in species ranges, and concordant extirpation of local populations. Of North American quail species, California quail may see its range contract the most, approximately 50% under a 3° C global temperature increase scenario. Conversely, milder winters may increase the area over which climate is favorable to bobwhites by approximately 25%. However, these gains will largely be contiguous with regions where bobwhite populations are rapidly declining, or have been extirpated, due to intensive agriculture and other land use changes. Extirpation of local populations may not be reversible, as there are few examples of successfully reestablished populations. There is a critical need for a national recovery plan that incorporates the impacts of future climate change on quail populations. We recommend that incorporating quail and other grassland birds into agricultural enterprises become standard practice. Long-term solutions will require increasing habitat quantity and connectivity. We also recommend research to further test and expand upon the heat stress hypothesis, and we recommend land management practices to mitigate the negative consequences of climate change

Increasing Physical Activity Among African-American Women and Girls

WHITT-GLOVER, M. C., D. J. BRAND, M. E. TURNER, S. A. WARD, and E. M. JACKSON. Increasing physical activity among African-American women and girls. Curr. Sports Med. Rep., Vol. 8, No. 6, pp. 318-324, 2009. The benefits of physical activity on diseases and risk factors are well known. Despite the known benefits, many segments of the population, particularly African-American women and girls, do not obtain adequate levels of physical activity. Strategies are needed to identify successful and sustainable interventions to increase physical activity among this population. We reviewed literature published between 2007 and 2009 that focused on increasing physical activity or fitness among this population. We identified 37 studies, 11 of which focused on increasing physical activity. This article summarizes the findings from those 11 studies and provides recommendations for improving strategies to increase physical activity in African-American women and girls

Gravitational instability of Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet black holes under tensor mode perturbations

We analyze the tensor mode perturbations of static, spherically symmetric solutions of the Einstein equations with a quadratic Gauss-Bonnet term in dimension $D > 4$. We show that the evolution equations for this type of perturbations can be cast in a Regge-Wheeler-Zerilli form, and obtain the exact potential for the corresponding Schr\"odinger-like stability equation. As an immediate application we prove that for $D \neq 6$ and $\alpha >0$, the sign choice for the Gauss-Bonnet coefficient suggested by string theory, all positive mass black holes of this type are stable. In the exceptional case $D =6$, we find a range of parameters where positive mass asymptotically flat black holes, with regular horizon, are unstable. This feature is found also in general for $\alpha < 0$.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, minor corrections, references adde