Does Bem´s Psychological Androgyny map on gender or sex differences in faces?

Sarah Bem introduced the concept of androgyny, which disconnects sex and gender and includes a continuous representation of gender. What has not been investigated so far is whether the particular qualities postulated by Bem are qualities of gender rather than sex-associated traits. In the present study, the reversed correlation task as a data driven approach was used to determine the implicit gender stereotypes across the faces of men and women and to create an ideal protoype of feminine and masculine faces. Then it was measured which impressions these faces evoke. Two studies and a pilot study (N=514) were conducted. The present study showed that gender and not sex is crucial for the attribution of social characteristics. Pictures of stereotypical faces have been found to be highly suitable for measuring masculinity and femininity. The continuous properties of masculinity and femininity, as outlined by Bem (1974), are still appropriate to differentiate between the stereotypical ideas of men and women

Britischer Humor im interkulturellen Kontext

Ausgehend von der Annahme, dass Humor in den Sprechakten von Briten eine maßgebliche Rolle spielt, ist die Untersuchung darauf ausgerichtet, seine wesentlichen Merkmale zu erfassen und die Genese der verbalen Komik im Englischen zu erklären, um Deutschen Kenntnisse an die Hand zu geben, mit denen sie humorbedingte Probleme in der interkulturellen Kommunikation meistern können. Da Inkongruenz das entscheidende Strukturprinzip der verbalen Komik ist, liegt der linguistischen Analyse von Auszügen aus sechs Werken der englischen Literatur ein Konzept zugrunde, das auf der Opposition semantischer Skripten beruht. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass sich das Englische hinsichtlich der Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten verbaler Komik nicht grundsätzlich vom Deutschen unterscheidet. Die Einstellungen der Sprecher beider Sprachen weichen jedoch signifikant voneinander ab. Während Humor als integraler Bestandteil der Identität von Briten gilt und diese die positiven Eigenschaften verbaler Komik in der Kommunikation (Ausgleich, Distanz etc.) bewusst nutzen, machen Deutsche von ihnen viel seltener Gebrauch. Der Hang der Briten zum Humor kommt u.a. in ausgeprägtem Individualismus, Harmoniebedürfnis, der Bevorzugung des indirekten Gesprächsstils, Kompromissbereitschaft sowie der Neigung zum Paradoxen zum Ausdruck, das es im Spannungsfeld widersprüchlicher Begriffe erlaubt, Wertmaßstäbe flexibel zu handhaben. Um die interkulturelle Verständigung mit Briten zu verbessern, sollten Deutsche bereit sein, der verbalen Komik mehr Platz einzuräumen. Im Hinblick auf den Unterricht in Englisch als Fremdsprache ergibt sich die Empfehlung, den Lernzielen zur kommunikativen Kompetenz die Humorkompetenz hinzuzufügen.On the assumption that humour plays a decisive role in the speech acts of Britons, it is the objective of the study to identify its essential characteristics and to explain the genesis of verbal humour in English in order to gain the necessary knowledge which may enable Germans to master problems caused by humour in intercultural communication. With incongruity being the crucial structural principle of verbal humour, the linguistic analysis of excerpts from six works of English literature is founded on a concept which takes the opposition of semantic scripts as a basis. The results show that there is no fundamental difference between the English and the German languages concerning the possibilities of creating verbal humour. The attitudes of the speakers of both languages, however, differ significantly. Whereas the sense of humour is considered an integral constituent of a Briton's identity and the positive features of verbal humour (compensation, detachment etc.) are deliberately used in communication by Britons, Germans do rather not profit frequently by its advantages. Among other things the Britons' leaning towards humour finds expression in distinct individualism, the striving for harmony, the preference for an indirect conversational style, the readiness to compromise as well as an inclination towards the paradoxical, which allows for flexibility in the assessment of values and standards by contrasting terms and ideas. To improve intercultural communication with Britons Germans ought to be ready to concede more space to verbal humour. With regard to the instruction of English as a foreign language the recommendation to add humour competence to the objectives of communicative competence is made

Die Rolle von Nrf2 und p21 in der Hepatokarzinogenese

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Attitudes towards babies. Social influences and gender differences in the context of baby attitudes

This dissertation thesis consists of three chapters with this content: Chapter 1: As increasingly remote concepts and behaviors have been primed, which have come under increasing criticism, we took a step back and tried to strengthen the roots of priming research. In the present study, we systematically varied in six studies (N=1285) the activation or priming of a concept. Then we measured accessibility for semantic concepts using the word stem completion task. Across six studies, our investigations showed that the activation of semantic concepts is possible through greater accessibility of semantically congruent words (with only one study failing to reach conventional level of significance), so that the prerequisite is given for further investigation by behavioral priming. The present study showed that the basal priming mechanisms are robust effects. The meta-analytic integration showed that women had reliably more baby-related words accessible. An at least imaginable explanation is that social role stereotypes associate women more with the reproductive sphere than men and that women to a certain extent internalize these societal views. Other explanations and potential future applications are discussed. Chapter 2: The attitudes towards children are more complex than simple positive/negative distinctions. In the present study, we sought in two studies (N=445) to provide a tool to explore different facets of attitudes towards babies and procreation by developing and validating a questionnaire regarding attitudes towards procreation. Both English and German versions were tested. As another goal, we examined whether gender differences can be found. The Procreation Attitude Scales (PrAttS) consists of 13 items representing three underlying dimensions: (1) unconditional positivity, (2) anticipated annoyance and (3) contingent willingness. The present investigations showed twice a gender difference in emotional attitudes, revealing that women have a stronger emotional interest in procreation and babies. However, the current paper also showed twice that this gender difference disappears when the motivational attitude to procreation and babies was measured. These results show that attitudes toward babies are multifaceted and that supposedly reliable gender differences are less reliable than commonly thought. The PrAttS provides an explicit method of interest for children, providing an alternative to more recently criticized implicit measures. Chapter 3: Sarah Bem introduced the concept of androgyny, which disconnects sex and gender and includes a continuous representation of gender. What has not been investigated so far is whether the particular qualities postulated by Bem are qualities of gender rather than sex-associated traits. In the present study, the reversed correlation task as a data driven approach was used to determine the implicit gender stereotypes across the faces of men and women and to create an ideal protoype of feminine and masculine faces. Then it was measured which impressions these faces evoke. Two studies and a pilot study (N=514) were conducted. The present study showed that gender and not sex is crucial for the attribution of social characteristics. Pictures of stereotypical faces have been found to be highly suitable for measuring masculinity and femininity. The continuous properties of masculinity and femininity, as outlined by Bem (1974), are still appropriate to differentiate between the stereotypical ideas of men and women

Investigation and enhancement of the detectability of flaws with a coarse measuring grid and air coupled ultrasound for NDT of panel materials using the re-radiation method

Non-destructive ultrasonic testing is utilized widely by industries for quality assurance. For sensitive materials or surfaces, non-contact, non-destructive testing methods are in demand. The air-coupled ultrasound (ACU) is one possible solution. This can be used to investigate large, panel-like objects for delaminations and other flaws. For a high detectability, fine measurement grids are required (typically <λ is used), which results in extremely long data acquisition times that are only practicable for laboratory applications. This paper aimed at reducing the required measurement grid points for obtaining high detectability evaluations. The novel method presented in this paper allows a measurement grid that is much coarser than the resulting grid. The method combines a software refinement of the measured data with the Rayleigh-Sommerfeld diffraction integral for the calculation of the pressure distribution on the object's surface. This result allows the precise prediction of delaminations and flaws in the tested object. The presented method shows a decrease in the total investigation time by up to 98%

Cox-Type regression and transformation models with change-points based on covariate thresholds

In this thesis we consider Cox-type regression models and transformation models for right-censored survival time data with bent-line change-points in the underlying regression functions according to covariate thresholds. We establish the usual asymptotic properties of the estimates such as &#8730;(n) consistency and asymptotic normality. Furthermore, we applied the Cox regression model with change-points to different data sets.Die Dissertation beinhaltet Cox Regressionsmodelle und ein lineares Transformationsmodell für rechtszensierte Lebensdauerdaten mit Change-Points in der zugrunde liegenden Regressionsfunktion. Wir zeigen die üblichen asymptotischen Eigenschaften der Schätzer wie &radic;(n) Konsistenz und asymptotische Normalität. Weiterhin wenden wir das Cox Regressionsmodell mit Change-Points auf verschiedene Datensätze an

Genetic variation in HSD17B13 reduces the risk of developing cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in alcohol misusers

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Carriage of rs738409:G in patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing 3 (PNPLA3) is associated with an increased risk for developing alcohol-related cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Recently, rs72613567:TA in hydroxysteroid 17-beta dehydrogenase 13 (HSD17B13) was shown to be associated with a reduced risk for developing alcohol-related liver disease and to attenuate the risk associated with PNPLA3 rs738409:G. This study explores the risk-associations between these two genetic variants and the development of alcohol-related cirrhosis and HCC. APPROACH AND RESULTS: Variants in HSD17B13 and PNPLA3 were genotyped in 6,171 participants, including: 1,031 with alcohol-related cirrhosis and HCC; 1,653 with alcohol-related cirrhosis without HCC; 2,588 alcohol misusers with no liver disease; and 899 healthy controls. Genetic associations with the risks for alcohol-related cirrhosis and HCC were determined using logistic regression analysis. Carriage of HSD17B13 rs72613567:TA was associated with a lower risk for both cirrhosis (OR 0.79 [95% CI 0.72-0.88], p=8.13×10-6) and HCC (OR 0.77 [95% CI 0.68-0.89], p=2.27×10-4), while carriage of PNPLA3 rs738409:G was associated with an increased risk for developing cirrhosis (OR 1.70 [95% CI 1.54-1.88], p=1.52x10-26) and HCC (OR 1.77 [95% CI 1.58-1.98], p=2.31×10-23). These associations remained significant after adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, type II diabetes mellitus and country. Carriage of HSD17B13 rs72613567:TA attenuated the risk for developing cirrhosis associated with PNPLA3 rs738409:G in both men and women but the protective effect against the subsequent development of HCC was only observed in men (p=1.72×10-4; ORallelic, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.64-0.87). CONCLUSIONS: Carriage of variants in PNPLA3 and HSD17B13 differentially affect the risk for developing advanced alcohol-related liver disease. A genotypic/phenotypic risk score might facilitate earlier diagnosis of HCC in this population

The TNFR1 antagonist Atrosimab is therapeutic in mouse models of acute and chronic inflammation

Therapeutics that block tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and thus activation of TNF receptor 1 (TNFR1) and TNFR2, are clinically used to treat inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis. However, TNFR1 and TNFR2 work antithetically to balance immune responses involved in inflammatory diseases. In particular, TNFR1 promotes inflammation and tissue degeneration, whereas TNFR2 contributes to immune modulation and tissue regeneration. We, therefore, have developed the monovalent antagonistic anti-TNFR1 antibody derivative Atrosimab to selectively block TNFR1 signaling, while leaving TNFR2 signaling unaffected. Here, we describe that Atrosimab is highly stable at different storage temperatures and demonstrate its therapeutic efficacy in mouse models of acute and chronic inflammation, including experimental arthritis, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Our data support the hypothesis that it is sufficient to block TNFR1 signaling, while leaving immune modulatory and regenerative responses via TNFR2 intact, to induce therapeutic effects. Collectively, we demonstrate the therapeutic potential of the human TNFR1 antagonist Atrosimab for treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases

PhotoCORMs: CO release moves into the visible

The potential of carbon monoxide to act as a therapeutic agent is now well-established. Controlled delivery of CO is best achieved using 'CORMs': molecules which release known amounts of carbon monoxide in response to a stimulus. Metal carbonyl complexes will release CO if irradiated with ultraviolet light, but it is only in the past five years that development of true 'photoCORMs' has been explored. Recent exciting developments in this area now show that design of photoCORMs operating well into the visible region is achievable. In this Perspective, we examine the growth of photoCORMs from their origins in the photophysics of metal carbonyls to the latest visible-light agents