Perceived Underemployment, Perceived Accent Discrimination, and Job Attitudes Among Immigrants: The Mediating Role of Perceived Organizational Support

Although immigrants have become an integral part of the U.S. workforce, they are conspicuously absent in diversity research. Immigrants often face underemployment and discrimination, which lead to negative job attitudes, yet, the mechanism of such relationships is hardly understood. Using social exchange theory, the present study tested perceived organizational support (POS) as a potential mediator of a relationship between perceived underemployment and perceived accent discrimination, and job attitudes (i.e., job satisfaction, affective commitment, turnover intention) among 256 immigrant workers. Results showed that POS fully and partially mediated such relationships. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed

Alternative methods to evaluate the protective ability of sunscreen against photo-genotoxicity

Numerous epidemiological investigations show that sunlight is carcinogenic to humans and that the use of sunscreen may be effective in decreasing the risk of skin cancer. The biological activity of a sunscreen is evaluated by its ability to protect human skin from erythema as represented by a Sun Protection Factor (SPF). We propose that the sunscreen's protective effect against sunlight-induced genotoxicity, including mutation, should also be taken into account. In this study we examined the protective ability of sunscreens against natural sunlight and UV-induced genotoxicity in Drosophila somatic cells. We prepared three kinds of sunscreen samples, each with an SPF value of 20, 40 or 60 and compared their protective activities with commercial sunscreens. When a sunscreen of SPF 20, 40 or 60 was pasted on the plastic cover of a petri dish in which Drosophila larvae were exposed to the sun or UV lamps, genotoxicity decreased as the SPF of the sunscreen increased, relative to levels of genotoxicity observed in samples without sunscreen. However, the protective abilities of sunscreens were unexpectedly not so different from each other. To reveal the relationship between the protective activity of sunscreen and the wavelength of light with which larvae were irradiated through the sunscreen, we measured the transmittance of light through the petri dish cover on which the sunscreen was pasted. Effective protection was demonstrated by removing components of light whose wavelengths were below 315 nm. We suggest, that the measurement of anti-genotoxic activity and the determination of the wavelengths of light transmitted through the sunscreen should be an alternative method for evaluating the effectiveness of a sunscreen.</p

A dehydrated space-weathered skin cloaking the hydrated interior of Ryugu

Without a protective atmosphere, space-exposed surfaces of airless Solar System bodies gradually experience an alteration in composition, structure and optical properties through a collective process called space weathering. The return of samples from near-Earth asteroid (162173) Ryugu by Hayabusa2 provides the first opportunity for laboratory study of space-weathering signatures on the most abundant type of inner solar system body: a C-type asteroid, composed of materials largely unchanged since the formation of the Solar System. Weathered Ryugu grains show areas of surface amorphization and partial melting of phyllosilicates, in which reduction from Fe3+ to Fe2+ and dehydration developed. Space weathering probably contributed to dehydration by dehydroxylation of Ryugu surface phyllosilicates that had already lost interlayer water molecules and to weakening of the 2.7 µm hydroxyl (–OH) band in reflectance spectra. For C-type asteroids in general, this indicates that a weak 2.7 µm band can signify space-weathering-induced surface dehydration, rather than bulk volatile loss

The Effects Of Physical Attractiveness On Job-Related Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis Of Experimental Studies

We report the findings of a meta-analytic review of experimental studies concerned with the biasing effect of physical attractiveness on a variety of job-related outcomes. In support of implicit personality theory, attractive individuals were found to fare better than unattractive individuals in terms of a number of such outcomes. The weighted mean effect size, d, was .37 for all studies. In addition, tests for moderating effects showed that (a) the attractiveness bias did not differ between studies that provided low versus high amounts of job-relevant information about the targets, (b) the same bias was greater for within-subjects research designs than for between-subjects designs, (c) professionals were as susceptible to the bias as were college students, (d) attractiveness was as important for men as for women, and (e) the biasing effect of attractiveness has decreased in recent years. Implications of these findings are considered

The Interactive Effects Of Race, Gender, And Job Type On Job Suitability Ratings And Selection Decisions

The present study examined the main and interactive effects of race, gender, and job type on job suitability ratings and selection decisions. Consistent with the double-advantage additive effects model of race and gender, highly educated Black women were rated as more suitable for jobs and more likely to be selected for jobs requiring high levels of cognitive ability than were comparably educated White men, White women, or Black men. These results suggest that selection decisions might be jointly determined by race, gender, and the nature of a job. The implications of these findings for overcoming biases in employment-related decision making are discussed

Effects Of Coworker Race And Task Demand On Task-Related Outcomes As Mediated By Evoked Affect

Using a 2 × 2 (Coworker Race × Task Demand) design and data from 180 White women who worked in dyads with a male confederate, the present study examined the effects of coworker race (White vs. Black) and task demand (low vs. high cognitive demand) on evoked affect, task attention, task performance, task satisfaction, and the desire to work alone (as opposed to with a coworker). As expected, results showed that coworker race and task demand evoked differing levels of affect, which, in turn, influenced several other outcomes. These findings have important implications for promoting racial diversity in organizations

Structure-activity relationship study of the neuritogenic potential of the glycan of starfish ganglioside LLG-3

LLG-3 is a ganglioside isolated from the starfish Linchia laevigata. To clarify the structure-activity relationship of the glycan of LLG-3 toward rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells in the presence of nerve growth factor, a series of mono- to tetrasaccharide glycan derivatives were chemically synthesized and evaluated in vitro. The methyl group at C8 of the terminal sialic acid residue was crucial for neuritogenic activity, and the terminal trisaccharide moiety was the minimum active motif. Furthermore, the trisaccharide also stimulated neuritogenesis in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells via mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling. Phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 was rapidly induced by adding 1 or 10 nM of the trisaccharide. The ratio of phosphorylated ERK to ERK reached a maximum 5 min after stimulation, and then decreased gradually. However, the trisaccharide did not induce significant Akt phosphorylation. These effects were abolished by pretreatment with the MAPK inhibitor U0126, which inhibits enzymes MEK1 and MEK2. In addition, U0126 inhibited the phosphorylation of ERK 1/2 in response to the trisaccharide dose-dependently. Therefore, we concluded that the trisaccharide promotes neurite extension in SH-SY5Y cells via MAPK/ERK signaling, not Akt signaling

Methodological Problems Associated With Research On Unfair Discrimination Against Racial Minorities

Despite the passage of civil rights legislation, racial and ethnic minorities continue to experience unfair discrimination in the workplace. Therefore, considerable research in human resource management and social psychology has examined the factors thought to affect unfair discrimination in organizations [Cox, T. (1993). Cultural diversity in organizations: Theory, research, and practice. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler]. Although research has focused on unfair discrimination, researchers have argued that the construct and external validity of the results have been adversely affected by methodological problems [e.g., Stone, E.F., Stone, D.L., & Dipboye, R.L. (1992). Stigmas in organizations: Race, handicaps, and physical unattractiveness. In Kelly, K. (Ed.). Issues, theory, and research in industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 385-457). Amsterdam: Elsevier]. Given this critique, the present paper (a) examines the degree to which recent research suffered from a number of methodological problems (e.g., obtrusive measures, non-representative samples, and demand characteristics), (b) identifies strategies for overcoming these problems, and (c) offers recommendations for advancing our understanding of unfair discrimination in organizational contexts. © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved