Minority Influence and Degrowth-Oriented Pro-environmental Conflict: When Emotions Betray Our Attachment to the Social Dominant Paradigm

If today the anthropogenic origin of climate change gathers almost total scientific consensus, human pro-environmental action is not changing with sufficient impact to keep global warming within the 1.5° limit. Environmental psychology has traditionally focused on the underlying barriers towards more pro-environmental behaviours. Emotions—like fear or anger—may act as such barriers especially in case of radical change (e.g., degrowth). While minority influence has been extensively applied to understand societal change, it has rarely been applied to understand the emotional responses that may hinder counter-normative pro-environmental messages. However, past literature on emotions shows that, in challenging situations—the likes of radical minority conflict—people will tend to use their emotional reaction to maintain societal status quo. Two studies investigated how participants emotionally react towards a counter-normative pro-environmental minority message (advocating degrowth). A qualitative (thematic analyses) and a quantitative (emotional self-report paradigm) studies showed that participants report emotions that allow them to realign themselves with the cultural backdrop of the social dominant paradigm (growth), thus resisting change. Specifically, although all participants tend to demonstrate higher proportions of control-oriented emotions, men do so more. These effects, as well as questions of cultural and ideological dominance, are discussed considering barriers towards pro-environmentalism

An Empirical Calibration of the Completeness of the SDSS Quasar Survey

Spectra of nearly 20000 point-like objects to a Galactic reddening corrected magnitude of i=19.1 have been obtained to test the completeness of the SDSS quasar survey. The spatially-unresolved objects were selected from all regions of color space, sparsely sampled from within a 278 sq. deg. area of sky covered by this study. Only ten quasars were identified that were not targeted as candidates by the SDSS quasar survey (including both color and radio source selection). The inferred density of unresolved quasars on the sky that are missed by the SDSS algorithm is 0.44 per sq. deg, compared to 8.28 per sq. deg. for the selected quasar density, giving a completeness of 94.9(+2.6,-3.8) to the limiting magnitude. Omitting radio selection reduces the color-only selection completeness by about 1%. Of the ten newly identified quasars, three have detected broad absorption line systems, six are significantly redder than other quasars at the same redshift, and four have redshifts between 2.7 and 3.0 (the redshift range where the SDSS colors of quasars intersect the stellar locus). The fraction of quasars missed due to image defects and blends is approximately 4%, but this number varies by a few percent with magnitude. Quasars with extended images comprise about 6% of the SDSS sample, and the completeness of the selection algorithm for extended quasars is approximately 81%, based on the SDSS galaxy survey. The combined end-to-end completeness for the SDSS quasar survey is approximately 89%. The total corrected density of quasars on the sky to i=19.1 is estimated to be 10.2 per sq. deg.Comment: 37 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A

Aminoglycosides for Intra-Abdominal Infection: Equal to the Challenge?

Background: Aminoglycosides, combined with antianaerobic agents, have been used widely for the treatment of intra-abdominal infection. However, some prospective randomized controlled trials and other data suggested that aminoglycosides were less efficacious than newer comparators for the treatment of these infections. We therefore performed a meta-analysis of all prospective randomized controlled trials utilizing aminoglycosides to reevaluate the efficacy of these agents for the treatment of intra-abdominal infection. Methods: Published English-language prospective randomized controlled trials comparing aminoglycosides with other agents for treatment of intra-abdominal infection were identified by MEDLINE search. For each study, data were collected regarding the number of patients enrolled and evaluated, their basic demographic characteristics, the sources of the intra-abdominal infections, the number of failures as determined by the study investigators, quality score, and the use of serum drug concentrations to monitor aminoglycoside therapy. These data were combined to calculate odds ratios for risk of therapeutic failure, which were assessed for significance using Chi-square analysis. Results: Forty-seven prospective randomized controlled trials comparing aminoglycosides to other agents were identified. These were published between 1981 and 2000, and included a total of 5,182 evaluable patients. Analysis of all studies combined revealed an odds ratio that slightly, but significantly, favored the comparators. After excluding six trials using comparators that lacked accepted antianaerobic efficacy, the odds ratio more strongly favored comparators. Trials published since 1990 also notably favored comparators. Analyzing results by quality score or the use of aminoglycoside monitoring did not alter these findings. Conclusions: In this meta-analysis, aminoglycosides were less efficacious than newer comparators for the treatment of intra-abdominal infection. Given the well-known toxicities of these agents, we conclude that they should not be used as first-line therapy for these infections

The Surgical Infection Society Guidelines on Antimicrobial Therapy for Intra-Abdominal Infections: Evidence for the Recommendations

Revised guidelines for the use of antimicrobial therapy in patients with intra-abdominal infections were recently developed by the Therapeutic Agents Committee of the Surgical Infection Society (Mazuski et al., Surg Infect2002;3:161-173). These were based, insofar as possible, on evidence published over the past decade. The objective of this document is to describe the process by which the Committee identified and reviewed the published literature utilized to develop the recommendations and to summarize the results of those reviews. English-language articles published between 1990 and 2000 related to antimicrobial therapy for intra-abdominal infections were identified by a systematic MEDLINE search and an examination of references included in recent review articles. If current literature with regard to a specific issue was lacking, relevant articles published prior to 1990 were identified. All prospective randomized controlled trials, as well as other articles selected by the Committee, were evaluated individually and collectively. Data with regard to patient numbers, types of infections, and results of interventions were abstracted. Studies were categorized according to their design, and all included trials were graded according to quality. On the basis of this evidence, the Committee formulated recommendations for antimicrobial therapy for intra-abdominal infections and graded those recommendations. After receiving comments from invited reviewers and the general membership of the Society, the guidelines were finalized and submitted to the Council of the Surgical Infection Society for approval. The final recommendations related to the selection of patients needing therapeutic antimicrobials, acceptable antimicrobial regimens, duration of antimicrobial use, and the identification and treatment of higher-risk patients. Although numerous publications pertaining to these topics were identified, but nearly all of the prospective randomized controlled trials represented comparisons of different antimicrobial regimens for the treatment of intra-abdominal infections. A few prospective trials evaluated the need for therapeutic antimicrobial therapy in patients with peritoneal contamination following abdominal trauma. The quality of these prospective trials was highly variable. Many did not limit enrollment to patients with complicated intra-abdominal infections, lacked blinding of treatment assignment, did not provide a complete description of the criteria used to determine therapeutic success or failure, failed to identify the reasons why patients were excluded from analysis, or did not include an intention-to-treat analysis. For many issues, no prospective randomized controlled trials were encountered, and guidelines had to be formulated using evidence from studies with historical controls or uncontrolled data, or on the basis of expert opinion

BAFF selectively enhances the survival of plasmablasts generated from human memory B cells

The generation of Ig-secreting cells (ISCs) from memory B cells requires interactions between antigen-specific (Ag-specific) B cells, T cells, and dendritic cells. This process must be strictly regulated to ensure sufficient humoral immunity while avoiding production of pathogenic autoantibodies. BAFF, a member of the TNF family, is a key regulator of B cell homeostasis. BAFF exerts its effect by binding to three receptors — transmembrane activator of and CAML interactor (TACI), B cell maturation antigen (BCMA), and BAFF receptor (BAFF-R). To elucidate the contribution of BAFF to the differentiation of B cells into ISCs, we tracked the fate of human memory B cells stimulated with BAFF or CD40L. BAFF and CD40L significantly increased the overall number of surviving B cells. This was achieved via distinct mechanisms. CD40L induced proliferation of nondifferentiated blasts, while BAFF prevented apoptosis of ISCs without enhancing proliferation. The altered responsiveness of activated memory B cells to CD40L and BAFF correlated with changes in surface phenotype such that expression of CD40 and BAFF-R were reduced on ISCs while BCMA was induced. These results suggest BAFF may enhance humoral immunity in vivo by promoting survival of ISCs via a BCMA-dependent mechanism. These findings have wide-ranging implications for the treatment of human immunodeficiencies as well as autoimmune diseases.This work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. S.G. Tangye was supported by a U2000 Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded by the University of Sydney. P.D. Hodgkin is a Senior Research Fellow of the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. F. Mackay is a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow

Differential prefrontal and subcortical circuitry engagement during encoding of semantically related words in patients with late‐life depression

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/109350/1/gps4165.pd

Colors of 2625 Quasars at 0<z<5 Measured in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Photometric System

We present an empirical investigation of the colors of quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) photometric system. The sample studied includes 2625 quasars with SDSS photometry. The quasars are distributed in a 2.5 degree wide stripe centered on the Celestial Equator covering $\sim529$ square degrees. Positions and SDSS magnitudes are given for the 898 quasars known prior to SDSS spectroscopic commissioning. New SDSS quasars represent an increase of over 200% in the number of known quasars in this area of the sky. The ensemble average of the observed colors of quasars in the SDSS passbands are well represented by a power-law continuum with $\alpha_{\nu} = -0.5$ ($f_{\nu} \propto \nu^{\alpha}$). However, the contributions of the $3000 {\rm \AA}$ bump and other strong emission lines have a significant effect upon the colors. The color-redshift relation exhibits considerable structure, which may be of use in determining photometric redshifts for quasars. The range of colors can be accounted for by a range in the optical spectral index with a distribution $\alpha_{\nu}=-0.5\pm0.65$ (95% confidence), but there is a red tail in the distribution. This tail may be a sign of internal reddening. Finally, we show that there is a continuum of properties between quasars and Seyfert galaxies and we test the validity of the traditional division between the two classes of AGN.Comment: 66 pages, 15 figures (3 color), accepted by A

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Catalog I. Early Data Release

We present the first edition of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Quasar Catalog. The catalog consists of the 3814 objects (3000 discovered by the SDSS) in the initial SDSS public data release that have at least one emission line with a full width at half maximum larger than 1000 km/s, luminosities brighter than M_i^* = -23, and highly reliable redshifts. The area covered by the catalog is 494 square degrees; the majority of the objects were found in SDSS commissioning data using a multicolor selection technique. The quasar redshifts range from 0.15 to 5.03. For each object the catalog presents positions accurate to better than 0.2" rms per coordinate, five band (ugriz) CCD-based photometry with typical accuracy of 0.05 mag, radio and X-ray emission properties, and information on the morphology and selection method. Calibrated spectra of all objects in the catalog, covering the wavelength region 3800 to 9200 Angstroms at a spectral resolution of 1800-2100, are also available. Since the quasars were selected during the commissioning period, a time when the quasar selection algorithm was undergoing frequent revisions, the sample is not homogeneous and is not intended for statistical analysis.Comment: 27 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables, accepted by A