A many-analysts approach to the relation between religiosity and well-being

The relation between religiosity and well-being is one of the most researched topics in the psychology of religion, yet the directionality and robustness of the effect remains debated. Here, we adopted a many-analysts approach to assess the robustness of this relation based on a new cross-cultural dataset (N=10,535 participants from 24 countries). We recruited 120 analysis teams to investigate (1) whether religious people self-report higher well-being, and (2) whether the relation between religiosity and self-reported well-being depends on perceived cultural norms of religion (i.e., whether it is considered normal and desirable to be religious in a given country). In a two-stage procedure, the teams first created an analysis plan and then executed their planned analysis on the data. For the first research question, all but 3 teams reported positive effect sizes with credible/confidence intervals excluding zero (median reported β=0.120). For the second research question, this was the case for 65% of the teams (median reported β=0.039). While most teams applied (multilevel) linear regression models, there was considerable variability in the choice of items used to construct the independent variables, the dependent variable, and the included covariates

A Many-analysts Approach to the Relation Between Religiosity and Well-being

The relation between religiosity and well-being is one of the most researched topics in the psychology of religion, yet the directionality and robustness of the effect remains debated. Here, we adopted a many-analysts approach to assess the robustness of this relation based on a new cross-cultural dataset (N = 10, 535 participants from 24 countries). We recruited 120 analysis teams to investigate (1) whether religious people self-report higher well-being, and (2) whether the relation between religiosity and self-reported well-being depends on perceived cultural norms of religion (i.e., whether it is considered normal and desirable to be religious in a given country). In a two-stage procedure, the teams first created an analysis plan and then executed their planned analysis on the data. For the first research question, all but 3 teams reported positive effect sizes with credible/confidence intervals excluding zero (median reported β = 0.120). For the second research question, this was the case for 65% of the teams (median reported β = 0.039). While most teams applied (multilevel) linear regression models, there was considerable variability in the choice of items used to construct the independent variables, the dependent variable, and the included covariates

Retention of mobile water during dehydration in the desiccation-tolerant grass Eragrostis nindensis

Leaf tensile strength was measured for the drought-tolerant grass Eragrostis curvula and the desiccation-tolerant grass E. nindensis when fully hydrated, partially dehydrated, naturally air-dried, and flash-dried. Leaf tensile strength increased in intact, air-dried leaves of E. curvula but not for similarly treated leaves of E. nindensis. Examination of leaf cross-sections by light microscopy and histochemical staining for lignins failed to show any significant structural differences between the two species in the hydrated state. When leaves were flash-dried, the tensile strength of E. curvula remained unchanged from leaves dried naturally, while there was a marked increase in the tensile strength of flash-dried leaves of E. nindensis. Proton NMR indicated that the desiccation-tolerant E. nindensis retained mobile water when leaf relative water content was less than 20% if dried naturally but not if flash-dried, whereas no mobile water was detected in leaves of E. curvula when dried either naturally or with flash-drying to below 20% relative water content. This behaviour suggests a fundamental difference in strategy for surviving water loss in vegetative tissues between desiccation-tolerant species and drought-tolerant species

Leaf biomechanics as a potential tool to predict feeding preferences of the geometric tortoise Psammobates geometricus

Food and non food plant characteristics were studied for the geometric tortoise,  Psammobates geometricus, to test the hypothesis that feeding preferences in  tortoises may be influenced by the mechanical properties of plant leaves. Twelve focal feeding observations made between 8 October and 31 October 2002 were synthesized with literature reports to develop species lists of food and non food grasses and geophytes in renosterveld habitat. Failure load and tensile strength were determined in the field for leaves of food and non food plants that were spatially available to the tortoises and present in relative abundance during the course of the study. Leaves of geophyte food plants were fleshy and succulent with a low failure load and tensile strength. Leaves of food plant grasses had significantly higher failure loads and tensile strengths compared to leaves of food plant geophytes. In non food plants there was no signifi cant difference in failure load between grasses and geophytes, but tensile strength was signifi cantly higher in the grasses. Non food plant grasses and geophytes overall had significantly higher failure load and tensile strength values than did food plants. Two non food plants that overlapped in mechanical strength to the food plants either have toxic/unpalatable chemicals in high amounts or are recent invasive species to the renosterveld. Thus, these studies support the hypothesis that leaf biomechanical properties may be an important factor in determining the diet of the geometric tortoise and perhaps tortoises in general.Key words: biomechanics, failure load, herbivore, Psammobates geometricus, tensile strength

Transformation of the cryobehavior of rye protoplasts by modification of the plasma membrane lipid composition

The freezing tolerance of protoplasts isolated from nonacclimated rye leaves (Secale cereale L. cv Puma) was significantly altered by using a pH-induced protoplastliposome fusion technique to modify the lipid composition of the plasma membrane. The increase in freezing tolerance was elicited by fusion with liposomes composed of either the total phospholipid fraction isolated from the plasma membrane of cold-acclimated leaves or single mono- or diunsaturated species of phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho). Of the PtdCho species tested, dilinoleoylphosphatidylcholine ([Lin(2)]PtdCho) and dilinolenoylphosphatidylcholine ([Lnn(2)]PtdCho) liposomes were the most effective; 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoylphosphatidylcholine, 1-palmitoyl-2-linoleoylphosphatidylcholine, or dioleoylphosphatidylcholine liposomes were somewhat less effective; dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine or dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine liposomes had no effect. The increased freezing tolerance was the result of a transformation in the cryobehavior of the plasma membrane during freeze-induced osmotic contraction. In control nonacclimated protoplasts, osmotic contraction resulted in endocytotic vesiculation of the plasma membrane which was irreversible and resulted in lysis during osmotic expansion after melting of the suspending medium. In nonacclimated protoplasts fused with mono- or diunsaturated species of PtdCho, osmotic contraction resulted in the reversible formation of exocytotic extrusions of the plasma membrane—as normally occurs in protoplasts isolated from cold-acclimated leaves (acclimated protoplasts). In scanning electron micrographs, the morphology of the extrusions of nonacclimated protoplasts fused with [Lin(2)]PtdCho was virtually indistinguishable from that of the extrusions formed in acclimated protoplasts. These studies provide direct evidence that changes in the lipid composition of the plasma membrane are causally related to one facet of the cold-acclimation process

A Comparison of Physiological and Morphological Properties of Deciduous and Wintergreen Ferns in Southeastern Pennsylvania

Volume: 95Start Page: 45End Page: 5