Physiological measures differentiate distinct domains of immanent justice reasoning

Just-world theory research investigates how an individual\u27s world-view influences his/her behavior when confronted with injustice. The purpose of the present study was to examine the utility of multiple continual physiological measurements as predictors of just-world motivated behavior such as immanent justice reasoning (IJR) in a replication of Callan, Ellard, and Nicol\u27s (2006) study. Participants (N=109) were assigned to one of two narrative groups - either an adulterous scenario or a non-adulterous scenario. It was hypothesized that levels of IJR would be higher in the justice-threat than the non-threat condition, and that measures of physiological arousal would predict IJR. Results show that significantly higher responses of IJR were observed during the non-adulterous condition. Additionally, physiological indicators of emotional arousal correctly predicted IJR. These results indicate that physiological measures are useful in assessing justice-threat scenarios, and further research should use such indicators in addition to self-report affect measures

Minimal Stability in Maximal Supergravity

Recently, it has been shown that maximal supergravity allows for non-supersymmetric AdS critical points that are perturbatively stable. We investigate this phenomenon of stability without supersymmetry from the sGoldstino point of view. In particular, we calculate the projection of the mass matrix onto the sGoldstino directions, and derive the necessary conditions for stability. Indeed we find a narrow window allowing for stable SUSY breaking points. As a by-product of our analysis, we find that it seems impossible to perturb supersymmetric critical points into non-supersymmetric ones: there is a minimal amount of SUSY breaking in maximal supergravity.Comment: 27 pages, 1 figure. v2: two typos corrected, published versio

Dangerous dietary supplements: Garcinia cambogia-associated hepatic failure requiring transplantation.

Commercial dietary supplements are marketed as a panacea for the morbidly obese seeking sustainable weight-loss. Unfortunately, many claims cited by supplements are unsupported and inadequately regulated. Most concerning, however, are the associated harmful side effects, often unrecognized by consumers. Garcinia cambogia extract and Garcinia cambogia containing products are some of the most popular dietary supplements currently marketed for weight loss. Here, we report the first known case of fulminant hepatic failure associated with this dietary supplement. One active ingredient in this supplement is hydroxycitric acid, an active ingredient also found in weight-loss supplements banned by the Food and Drug Administration in 2009 for hepatotoxicity. Heightened awareness of the dangers of dietary supplements such as Garcinia cambogia is imperative to prevent hepatoxicity and potential fulminant hepatic failure in additional patients

A geometric bound on F-term inflation

We discuss a general bound on the possibility to realise inflation in any minimal supergravity with F-terms. The derivation crucially depends on the sGoldstini, the scalar field directions that are singled out by spontaneous supersymmetry breaking. The resulting bound involves both slow-roll parameters and the geometry of the K\"ahler manifold of the chiral scalars. We analyse the inflationary implications of this bound, and in particular discuss to what extent the requirements of single field and slow-roll can both be met in F-term inflation.Comment: 14 pages, improved analysis, references added, matches published versio

Effects of heavy modes on vacuum stability in supersymmetric theories

We study the effects induced by heavy fields on the masses of light fields in supersymmetric theories, under the assumption that the heavy mass scale is much higher than the supersymmetry breaking scale. We show that the square-masses of light scalar fields can get two different types of significant corrections when a heavy multiplet is integrated out. The first is an indirect level-repulsion effect, which may arise from heavy chiral multiplets and is always negative. The second is a direct coupling contribution, which may arise from heavy vector multiplets and can have any sign. We then apply these results to the sGoldstino mass and study the implications for the vacuum metastability condition. We find that the correction from heavy chiral multiplets is always negative and tends to compromise vacuum metastability, whereas the contribution from heavy vector multiplets is always positive and tends on the contrary to reinforce it. These two effects are controlled respectively by Yukawa couplings and gauge charges, which mix one heavy and two light fields respectively in the superpotential and the Kahler potential. Finally we also comment on similar effects induced in soft scalar masses when the heavy multiplets couple both to the visible and the hidden sector.Comment: LaTex, 24 pages, no figures; v2 some comments and references adde

Compreendendo os sinais: São relevantes os modelos de medidas múltiplas da eficácia do professor para fornecer informações consistentes para professores e diretores?

There is increasing policy interest in the use of standards-based multiple measure teacher evaluation systems that include both observational and value-added measures of teacher effectiveness. The growing literature that assesses the relationships between these measures does so mainly in academic settings using a validity lens. While valuable in their own right, this evidence from research-based settings provides little evidence about how teachers and principals receive the different signals from multiple measures of effectiveness when implemented in district contexts. Using pairwise correlations and a series of ordinary least squares regressions, this study assesses the relationships between value-added measures of teacher effectiveness and an observational measure of teacher practice as implemented in a district's pilot of a new standards-based multiple-measure teacher evaluation system. We find moderate correlations between value-added and observation-based measures, indicating that teachers will receive similar but not entirely consistent signals from each performance measure. We conclude by highlighting considerations for districts working to develop and implement standards-based multiple-measure teacher evaluation systems. Cada vez hay más interés en el uso de los sistemas de medidas múltiples de evaluación docente basados en estándares con medidas de observación y de valor añadido de la eficacia docente. La creciente literatura que evalúa las relaciones entre estas medidas lo hace principalmente en el ámbito académico utilizando la lente de la validez. Si bien valiosa, la evidencia basada en la investigación proporciona poca información sobre cómo los profesores y directores reciben las diferentes señales de los múltiples medidas de efectividad cuando se implementa en contextos distritales. Utilizando correlaciones por pares y una serie de regresiones de mínimos cuadrados ordinarios este estudio evalúa la relación entre las medidas de valor agregado de la eficacia docente y una medida observacional de la práctica docente como se aplica en una prueba piloto en un distrito con un sistema de múltiples medidas. Encontramos correlaciones moderadas entre el valor agregado y las medidas basadas en la observación, lo que indica que los docentes recibían señales enteramente coherentes similares pero no de cada medida de desempeño. Concluimos resaltando consideraciones para los distritos que trabajan para desarrollar e implementar sistemas de evaluación docente de medidas múltiples basadas en estándares. Há um crescente interesse em utilizar sistemas de medidas múltiplas de avaliação de professores baseada em padrões, que incluem tanto medidas observacionais e de valor agregado sobre a eficácia do professor. A crescente literatura acadêmica avaliando a relação entre essas medidas usa principalmente o lente de validade. Embora valiosa, as pesquisas baseadas em evidências fornece pouca informação sobre como professores e diretores recebem os diferentes sinais de medidas múltiplas de eficácia quando implementado em contextos distritais. Usando correlações em pares e uma série de regressões este estudo avalia a relação entre as medidas de valor agregado de eficácia do professor e uma medida de observação da prática docente aplicada em um teste piloto em um distrito escolar com um sistema de medidas múltiplas. Foram encontradas correlações moderadas entre as medidas de valor acrescentado baseados na observação, indicando que os professores receberam sinais inteiramente coerentes semelhantes, embora não de cada medida de desempenho. Concluímos, destacando considerações para os distritos que trabalham para desenvolver e implementar sistemas de avaliação de professores com base em padrões de medidas múltiplas.

Metastable de Sitter vacua in N=2 to N=1 truncated supergravity

We study the possibility of achieving metastable de Sitter vacua in general N=2 to N=1 truncated supergravities without vector multiplets, and compare with the situations arising in N=2 theories with only hypermultiplets and N=1 theories with only chiral multiplets. In N=2 theories based on a quaternionic manifold and a graviphoton gauging, de Sitter vacua are necessarily unstable, as a result of the peculiar properties of the geometry. In N=1 theories based on a Kahler manifold and a superpotential, de Sitter vacua can instead be metastable provided the geometry satisfies some constraint and the superpotential can be freely adjusted. In N=2 to N=1 truncations, the crucial requirement is then that the tachyon of the mother theory be projected out from the daughter theory, so that the original unstable vacuum is projected to a metastable vacuum. We study the circumstances under which this may happen and derive general constraints for metastability on the geometry and the gauging. We then study in full detail the simplest case of quaternionic manifolds of dimension four with at least one isometry, for which there exists a general parametrization, and study two types of truncations defining Kahler submanifolds of dimension two. As an application, we finally discuss the case of the universal hypermultiplet of N=2 superstrings and its truncations to the dilaton chiral multiplet of N=1 superstrings. We argue that de Sitter vacua in such theories are necessarily unstable in weakly coupled situations, while they can in principle be metastable in strongly coupled regimes.Comment: 40 pages, no figure

Introduced population of ring-necked parakeets Psittacula krameri in Madeira Island, Portugal - call for an early action

Research ArticleAlien invasive species are major drivers of ecological change worldwide, being especially detrimental in oceanic islands, where they constitute one of the greatest threats to the survival of native species. Ring-necked parakeets Psittacula krameri (Scopoli, 1769) are popular pets and individuals escaped from captivity have formed multiple self-sustainable populations outside their native range. For over ten years, free-ranging ring-necked parakeets have regularly been observed in Madeira Island (Portugal) and strong evidence suggests that they have breed multiple times in Funchal, the capital of the island. Herein, we assess the current status of Psittacula krameri in Madeira and discuss the possible ecological and economic impacts of established populations of this non-native parakeet. Given the initial stage of the incursion, we advocate for a “rapid response” intervention aimed at preventing the spread of this potential invaderinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio