Feel good, do-good!? On consistency and compensation in moral self-regulation

Studies in the behavioral ethics and moral psychology traditions have begun to reveal the important roles of self-related processes that underlie moral behavior. Unfortunately, this research has resulted in two distinct and opposing streams of findings that are usually referred to as moral consistency and moral compensation. Moral consistency research shows that a salient self-concept as a moral person promotes moral behavior. Conversely, moral compensation research reveals that a salient self-concept as an immoral person promotes moral behavior. The present study’s aim was to integrate these two literatures. We argued that compensation forms a reactive, “damage control” response in social situations, whereas consistency derives from a more proactive approach to reputation building and maintenance. Two experiments supported this prediction in showing that cognitive depletion (i.e., resulting in a reactive approach) results in moral compensation whereas consistency results when cognitive resources are available (i.e., resulting in a proactive approach). Experiment 2 revealed that these processes originate from reputational (rather than moral) considerations by showing that they emerge only under conditions of accountability. It can thus be concluded that reputational concerns are important for both moral compensation and moral consistency processes, and that which of these two prevails depends on the perspective that people take: a reactive or a proactive approach

Primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma shows a distinct miRNA expression profile and reveals differences from tumor-stage mycosis fungoides

Copyright @ 2012 John Wiley & SonsThe miRNA expression profiles of skin biopsies from 14 primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma (C-ALCL) patients were analysed with miRNA microarrays using the same control group of 12 benign inflammatory dermatoses (BID) as previously used to study the miRNA expression profile of tumor-stage mycosis fungoides (MF). We identified 13 differentially expressed miRNAs between C-ALCL and BID. The up-regulation of miR-155, miR-27b, miR-30c and miR-29b in C-ALCL was validated by miRNA-Q-PCR on independent study groups. Additionally, the miRNA expression profiles of C-ALCL were compared with those of tumor-stage MF. Although miRNA microarray analysis did not identify statistically significant differentially expressed miRNAs, miRNA-Q-PCR demonstrated statistically significantly differential expression of miR-155, miR-27b, miR-93, miR-29b and miR-92a between tumor-stage MF and C-ALCL. This study, the first describing the miRNA expression profile of C-ALCL, reveals differences with tumor-stage MF, suggesting a different contribution to the pathogenesis of these lymphomas.This work was funded by grants from Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) (MHV) and the Fondation Rene´ Touraine (MvK), and grants from the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research (EB) and the Julian Starmer-Smith Memorial Fund (CHL)

Trust maintenance as a function of construal level and attributions: the case of apologies

When do recipients of an apology (‘trustors’) base their decision to trust a perpetrator (a ‘trustee’) on the attributional information embedded in an apology? Attributions provide a detailed account of the trustee’s causal involvement in committing a transgression. We therefore argue that trustors in a low construal level mindset use this information in their trusting decision. However, trustors in a high construal level mindset likely consider all apologies as simple statements of regret, regardless of the attributional information they contain. We find support for this argument in four laboratory experiments. This research nuances the idea that to restore trust by means of an apology, the trustee must only use an effective attribution for a negative outcome. We also present a more realistic understanding of the process leading from apologies to trust than has been offered in previous work by simultaneously considering the role of the trustor and that of the trustee in the trust restoration process

The importance of heterogeneity in large-scale replications

In a large-scale replication effort, Klein et al. (2018, https://doi.org/10.1177/2515245918810225) investigate the variation in replicability and effect size across many different samples and settings. The authors concluded that, for any given effect being studied, heterogeneity across samples and settings does not explain failures to replicate. In the current commentary, we argue that the heterogeneity observed indeed has implications for replication failures, as well as for statistical power and theory development. We argue that psychological scientific research questions should be contextualized—considering how historical, political, or cultural circumstances might affect study results. We discuss how a perspectivist approach to psychological science is a fruitful way for designing research that aims to explain effect size heterogeneity.</p

Effects of major histocompatibility complex on antibody response in F1 and F2 crosses of chicken lines

International audienc

Investigation into leaching of phenol and methylphenols applying the column test and the serial batch test

Within the framework of the Terms of Reference Plan for normalization commission 39011 on Leaching characteristics of building and waste materials, the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) is developing a set of leaching tests for various organic compounds. Laboratory investigations were performed for leaching tests of phenol and methylphenols (cresols) to assess the practical feasibility of the experimental set-up, the level of emissions and the reproducibility of the experiments. Additional experiments were performed to investigate the losses of phenols during the test. Leaching tets for phenols, based on Dutch pre-NVN 7344 and 7350, were performed on four different soils. The materials contained high levels of contaminants to ensure detectable leached quantities. With reference to the performance, the methods could be applied for phenols as well. In three of the soils, a high emission could be observed, especially in the first fractions of the eluates. For one soil, no leaching was found at all. Apparently, the phenols were not available as a result of an unknown characteristic element in that specific soil. The levels of emission from the (highly contaminated) materials were high in the range from 30 to 60 % relative to the soil concentrations. Levels were higher than ealier was found for PCBs and EOX, probably as a result of the higher water solubility of the phenols. Standard deviations (n=2) were good for most leaching test (2-20%).In het kader van het Taakstellend Plan ter ondersteuning van de normcommissie 390 11 Uitloogkarakterisering van bouw- en afvalstoffen (TSP), is onderzoek uitgevoerd ten behoeve van de uitloogproeven voor fenol en cresolen (methylfenolen).Uitloogproeven voor fenolen, gebaseerd op de ontwerpnormen 7344 en 7350 (kolom- en cascadeproeven voor PAK's, PCB's en EOX), zijn in tweevoud uitgevoerd op een viertal verschillende grondmonsters. Dit betrof in alle gevallen grondmonsters, omdat in de praktijk geen andere bouw- en afvalstoffen met fenolen-verontreiniging beschikbaar waren. Voor de onderzochte materialen is gekozen voor een hoog gehalte van de te onderzoeken contaminanten, omdat hierdoor gewaarborgd is, dat in de eluaten van de uitloogproeven voldoende hoge concentraties gemeten kunnen worden. Het doel van de werkzaamheden was gelegen in het vaststellen van de praktische uitvoerbaarheid van de proef, het niveau van de emissies en de herhaalbaarheid van de proef. In technisch opzicht blijken de ontwerpvoornormen praktisch uitvoerbaar. Het vooronderzoek naar het verliezen van fenolen aan onderdelen of gebruikte materialen van de proefopstellingen tijdens de uitvoering van de uitloogproeven, gaf aan dat er geen verliezen optreden, zodat de bovenstaande normen zonder verdere aanpassingen gevolgd zijn. Het verlies van de fenolen, dat tijdens het materialenonderzoek op basis van de massabalans is geconstateerd, geeft wel aanleiding tot een aanpassing van de methodiek, met name in de opvang en conservering (koeling) van de verschillende frakties. De emissies van de fenolen, die bepaald zijn met de kolomproef, liggen voor de verschillende component-materiaal combinaties ten opzichte van de uitgangsconcentraties in de materialen in een gebied tussen 30 en 60%. Voor de cascadeproef liggen deze waarden gelijk of hoger tot 80-90%. De gevonden waarden zijn veel hoger dan die in voorafgaand RIVM onderzoek betreffende de stofgroepen PCB's en EOX zijn vastgesteld. Tevens blijken de fenolen steeds snel, in de eerste fraktie(s) uit te logen in gronden waarin deze op basis van de (grond)eigenschappen redelijk beschikbaar zijn. Dit kan grotendeels verklaard worden uit de hogere wateroplosbaarheid van de fenolen. De relatieve standaarddeviaties (RSD) van de in tweevoud uitgevoerd kolom- en cascadeproeven waren over het algemeen goed (2-20%). Er zijn onvoldoende materialen onderzocht om een algemene uitspraak te kunnen doen over de uitloging van fenolen, mede omdat bij drie van de vier uitloogproeven een zeer forse uitloging optrad en bij een materiaal in het geheel niet. In ieder geval lijkt het niet bepaald te worden door de kolomproef

Redox balance is key to explaining full vs. partial switching to low-yield metabolism

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Low-yield metabolism is a puzzling phenomenon in many unicellular and multicellular organisms. In abundance of glucose, many cells use a highly wasteful fermentation pathway despite the availability of a high-yield pathway, producing many ATP molecules per glucose, <it>e.g</it>., oxidative phosphorylation. Some of these organisms, including the lactic acid bacterium <it>Lactococcus lactis</it>, downregulate their high-yield pathway in favor of the low-yield pathway. Other organisms, including <it>Escherichia coli </it>do not reduce the flux through the high-yield pathway, employing the low-yield pathway in parallel with a fully active high-yield pathway. For what reasons do some species use the high-yield and low-yield pathways concurrently and what makes others downregulate the high-yield pathway? A classic rationale for metabolic fermentation is overflow metabolism. Because the throughput of metabolic pathways is limited, influx of glucose exceeding the pathway's throughput capacity is thought to be redirected into an alternative, low-yield pathway. This overflow metabolism rationale suggests that cells would only use fermentation once the high-yield pathway runs at maximum rate, but it cannot explain why cells would decrease the flux through the high-yield pathway.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using flux balance analysis with molecular crowding (FBAwMC), a recent extension to flux balance analysis (FBA) that assumes that the total flux through the metabolic network is limited, we investigate the differences between <it>Saccharomyces cerevisiae </it>and <it>L. lactis </it>that downregulate the high-yield pathway at increasing glucose concentrations, and <it>E. coli</it>, which keeps the high-yield pathway functioning at maximal rate. FBAwMC correctly predicts the metabolic switching mode in these three organisms, suggesting that metabolic network architecture is responsible for differences in metabolic switching mode. Based on our analysis, we expect gradual, "overflow-like" switching behavior in organisms that have an additional energy-yielding pathway that does not consume NADH (<it>e.g</it>., acetate production in <it>E. coli</it>). Flux decrease through the high-yield pathway is expected in organisms in which the high-yield and low-yield pathways compete for NADH. In support of this analysis, a simplified model of metabolic switching suggests that the extra energy generated during acetate production produces an additional optimal growth mode that smoothens the metabolic switch in <it>E. coli</it>.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Maintaining redox balance is key to explaining why some microbes decrease the flux through the high-yield pathway, while other microbes use "overflow-like" low-yield metabolism.</p