Association between the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene and mesolimbic responses to rewards

10.1186/2040-2392-5-7Molecular Autism51

Antecedents and outcomes of consumer environmentally friendly attitudes and behaviour

With the intensification of problems relating to the environment, a growing number of consumers are becoming more ecologically conscious in their preferences and purchases of goods. This paper presents the results of a study conducted among 500 Cypriot consumers, focusing on the factors that shape consumer environmental attitudes and behaviour, as well as on the resulting outcomes. The findings confirmed that both the inward and outward environmental attitudes of a consumer are positively influenced by his/her degree of collectivism, long-term orientation, political involvement, deontology, and law obedience, but have no connection with liberalism. The adoption of an inward environmental attitude was also found to be conducive to green purchasing behaviour that ultimately leads to high product satisfaction. On the other hand, an outward environmental attitude facilitates the adoption of a general environmental behaviour, which is responsible for greater satisfaction with life. The findings of the study have important implications for shaping effective company offerings to consumers in target markets, as well as formulating appropriate policies at the governmental level to enhance environmental sensitivity among citizens

Planar 17O NMR study of Pr_yY_{1-y}Ba_2Cu_3O_{6+x}

We report the planar ^{17}O NMR shift in Pr substituted YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{6+x}, which at x=1 exhibits a characteristic pseudogap temperature dependence, confirming that Pr reduces the concentration of mobile holes in the CuO_{2} planes. Our estimate of the rate of this counterdoping effect, obtained by comparison with the shift in pure samples with reduced oxygen content, is found insufficient to explain the observed reduction of T_c. From the temperature dependent magnetic broadening of the ^{17}O NMR we conclude that the Pr moment and the local magnetic defect induced in the CuO_2 planes produce a long range spin polarization in the planes, which is likely associated with the extra reduction of T_c. We find a qualitatively different behaviour in the oxygen depleted Pr_yY_{1-y}Ba_2Cu_3O_{6.6}, i.e. the suppression of T$_c$ is nearly the same, but the magnetic broadening of the ^{17}O NMR appears weaker. This difference may signal a weaker coupling of the Pr to the planes in the underdoped compound, which might be linked with the larger Pr to CuO_2 plane distance, and correspondingly weaker hybridization.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, accepted in Phys Rev

A multi-country level analysis of the environmental attitudes and behaviours among young consumers

Environmental issues have become more prominent internationally and are increasingly featured in discussion by governments, business and academics. This paper presents the results of a study which examines the concerns for environmental issues and purchase behaviours of a sample of 1173 young consumers in England, Germany, Portugal and Spain; countries which represent different realities in terms of economic development, social context and cultural issues. An analysis of the differences between the respondents from the four countries regarding concepts such as man-nature orientation, generativity, environmental concern, consumer perceived effectiveness, conservation behaviour and environmentally-friendly buying behaviour is presented. The results obtained confirm the existence of significant differences between countries for almost all variables. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

Sources of mycosporine-like amino acids in planktonic Chlorella-bearing ciliates (Ciliophora)

Mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) are a family of secondary metabolites known to protect organisms exposed to solar UV radiation. We tested their distribution among several planktonic ciliates bearing Chlorella isolated from an oligo-mesotrophic lake in Tyrol, Austria. In order to test the origin of these compounds, the MAAs were assessed by high performance liquid chromatography in both the ciliates and their symbiotic algae.Considering all Chlorella-bearing ciliates, we found: (i) seven different MAAs (mycosporine-glycine, palythine, asterina-330, shinorine, porphyra-334, usujirene, palythene); (ii) one to several MAAs per species and (iii) qualitative and quantitative seasonal changes in the MAAs (e.g. in Pelagodileptus trachelioides). In all species tested, concentrations of MAAs were always <1% of ciliate dry weight.Several MAAs were also identified in the Chlorella isolated from the ciliates, thus providing initial evidence for their symbiotic origin. In Uroleptus sp., however, we found evidence for a dietary source of MAAs.Our results suggest that accumulation of MAAs in Chlorella-bearing ciliates represents an additional benefit of this symbiosis and an adaptation for survival in sunlit, UV-exposed waters

How to make complexity look simple? Conveying ecosystems restoration complexity for socio-economic research and public engagement

Ecosystems degradation represents one of the major global challenges at the present time, threating people’s livelihoods and well-being worldwide. Ecosystem restoration therefore seems no longer an option, but an imperative. Restoration challenges are such that a dialogue has begun on the need to re-shape restoration as a science. A critical aspect of that reshaping process is the acceptance that restoration science and practice needs to be coupled with socio-economic research and public engagement. This inescapably means conveying complex ecosystem’s information in a way that is accessible to the wider public. In this paper we take up this challenge with the ultimate aim of contributing to making a step change in science’s contribution to ecosystems restoration practice. Using peatlands as a paradigmatically complex ecosystem, we put in place a transdisciplinary process to articulate a description of the processes and outcomes of restoration that can be understood widely by the public. We provide evidence of the usefulness of the process and tools in addressing four key challenges relevant to restoration of any complex ecosystem: (1) how to represent restoration outcomes; (2) how to establish a restoration reference; (3) how to cope with varying restoration time-lags and (4) how to define spatial units for restoration. This evidence includes the way the process resulted in the creation of materials that are now being used by restoration practitioners for communication with the public and in other research contexts. Our main contribution is of an epistemological nature: while ecosystem services-based approaches have enhanced the integration of academic disciplines and non-specialist knowledge, this has so far only followed one direction (from the biophysical underpinning to the description of ecosystem services and their appreciation by the public). We propose that it is the mix of approaches and epistemological directions (including from the public to the biophysical parameters) what will make a definitive contribution to restoration practice

Education for sustainable development (ESD): the turn away from ‘environment’ in environmental education?

This article explores the implications of the shift of environmental education (EE) towards education for sustainable development (ESD) in the context of environmental ethics. While plural perspectives on ESD are encouraged both by practitioners and researchers of EE, there is also a danger that such pluralism may sustain dominant political ideologies and consolidated corporate power that obscure environmental concerns. Encouraging plural interpretations of ESD may in fact lead ecologically ill-informed teachers and students acculturated by the dominant neo-liberal ideology to underprivilege ecocentric perspective. It is argued that ESD, with its focus on human welfare, equality, rights and fair distribution of resources is a radical departure from the aim of EE set out by the Belgrade Charter as well as a distinct turn towards anthropocentrically biased education. This article has two aims: to demonstrate the importance of environmental ethics for EE in general and ESD in particular and to argue in favour of a return to instrumentalism, based on the twinned assumptions that the environmental problems are severe and that education of ecologically minded students could help their resolution