Right-Wing Authoritarian and Explicit Prejudice Attitude Responses to the Paris Terror Attacks: A Within-Subjects Analysis

When a terror attack occurs people appear to be prepared, in the short term, to be more accepting of authoritarian sanctions against outgroup members, particularly if sanctions are targeted against members of the outgroup perceived as responsible for the attack. The current study examined 42 British participants’ scores on measures of Right wing authoritarianism (RWA) and explicit prejudice (EP) before, within 36 hours of, and one year after the November 2015 Paris terror attacks. As higher scores on RWA measures have been linked to considering the world as dangerous and threatening, and desiring that authority control and punish transgressors of societal norms, and higher EP scores have been linked to negative perceptions of outgroups, we hypothesized that participants’ scores on both measures would increase immediately after the terror attack. Analyses showed small but significant increases in RWA and EP scores immediately after the attacks, particularly for those initially scoring lower on these measures, but scores on both measures had returned to baseline levels one year later. These findings from a within-subjects sample support recent between-subjects research suggesting that RWA and EP attitudes are impacted in the short term by reported terrorist attacks

Prejudice and the Brexit vote: a tangled web

The decision of the UK public in July 2016 to vote to leave the European Union was greeted with surprise within the UK and across the world. However, should we really have been surprised? Surveys of attitudes towards freedom of movement to the UK over the last 10 years have suggested an increasing negativity regarding immigration, and many debates before and after the vote have raised the issue of whether prejudice played a role in the outcome of the referendum. It is only within the last 12 months that a number of research study findings have started to provide a more coherent, data-informed evidence-base suggesting that voting behaviour in the referendum may have correlates to prejudice personality styles, nationalism, Islamophobia, and implicit/explicit prejudice. We argue that recent evidence suggests that levels of prejudice towards ‘others’ was a factor in the Brexit vote and that the attitudes underlying this vote must be explored in greater detail through cross-disciplinary scientific research, with legitimate concerns recognised and fallacies challenged

Low-Energy (\u3c 20 eV) and High-Energy (1000 eV) Electron-Induced Methanol Radiolysis of Astrochemical Interest

We report the first infrared study of the low-energy (\u3c 20 eV) electron-induced reactions of condensed methanol. Our goal is to simulate processes which occur when highenergy cosmic rays interact with interstellar and cometary ices, where methanol, a precursor of several prebiotic species, is relatively abundant. The interactions of high-energy radiation, such as cosmic rays (Emax ~1020 eV), with matter produce large numbers of low-energy secondary electrons, which are known to initiate radiolysis reactions in the condensed phase. Using temperature programmed desorption (TPD) and infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRAS), we have investigated low-energy (5–20 eV) and high-energy (~1000 eV) electron-induced reactions in condensed methanol (CH3OH). IRAS has the benefit that it does not require thermal processing prior to product detection. Using IRAS, we have found evidence for the formation of ethylene glycol (HOCH2CH2OH), formaldehyde (CH2O), dimethyl ether (CH3OCH3), methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and the hydroxyl methyl radical (•CH2OH) upon both low-energy and high-energy electron irradiation of condensed methanol at ~85 K. Additionally, TPD results, presented herein, are similar for methanol films irradiated with both 1000 eV and 20 eV electrons. These IRAS and TPD findings are qualitatively consistent with the hypothesis that high-energy condensed phase radiolysis is mediated by low-energy electron-induced reactions. Moreover, methoxymethanol (CH3OCH2OH) could serve as a tracer molecule for electron-induced reactions in the interstellar medium. The results of experiments such as ours may provide a fundamental understanding of how complex organic molecules (COM) are synthesized in cosmic ices

Cross-cultural Differences in Psychological Health During Covid-19

COVID-19 has affected the entire world including university students. Students are likely to experience COVID-19 related stress that might adversely affect their psychological health and result in use of various coping strategies. This study’s objectives were to examine cross-cultural differences and the relationships between stress, psychological health, and coping among university students during the pandemic. Furthermore, the study explored whether coping strategies mediated the relationship between psychological health and perceived distress for this population. University students (n=703) were recruited via convenience sampling from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Participants completed an online quantitative questionnaire consisting of general demographics, the Perceived Stress Scale, the General Health Questionnaire, and the Brief-COPE. Perceived psychological distress was significantly associated with poorer general psychological health and both were associated with dysfunctional coping. Among all countries involved, psychological health mediated the relationship between perceived distress and dysfunctional coping. Students from individualistic cultures reported higher stress and poorer psychological health when compared to those from collectivistic countries. The latter tended to engage in more emotion-focused and problem-focused coping and used more dysfunctional coping strategies than the former. Future research should explore other mediators and moderators that affect university students’ responses to pandemics and should include longitudinal studies with larger samples. Findings emphasise the need for providing university students mental health support during and after COVID-19. Moreover, it is important to develop and research empirically based strategies for reducing their stress and psychological distress through effective and culturally appropriate coping strategies

Multi-site genetic analysis of diffusion images and voxelwise heritability analysis : a pilot project of the ENIGMA–DTI working group

The ENIGMA (Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis) Consortium was set up to analyze brain measures and genotypes from multiple sites across the world to improve the power to detect genetic variants that influence the brain. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) yields quantitative measures sensitive to brain development and degeneration, and some common genetic variants may be associated with white matter integrity or connectivity. DTI measures, such as the fractional anisotropy (FA) of water diffusion, may be useful for identifying genetic variants that influence brain microstructure. However, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) require large populations to obtain sufficient power to detect and replicate significant effects, motivating a multi-site consortium effort. As part of an ENIGMA–DTI working group, we analyzed high-resolution FA images from multiple imaging sites across North America, Australia, and Europe, to address the challenge of harmonizing imaging data collected at multiple sites. Four hundred images of healthy adults aged 18–85 from four sites were used to create a template and corresponding skeletonized FA image as a common reference space. Using twin and pedigree samples of different ethnicities, we used our common template to evaluate the heritability of tract-derived FA measures. We show that our template is reliable for integrating multiple datasets by combining results through meta-analysis and unifying the data through exploratory mega-analyses. Our results may help prioritize regions of the FA map that are consistently influenced by additive genetic factors for future genetic discovery studies. Protocols and templates are publicly available at (http://enigma.loni.ucla.edu/ongoing/dti-working-group/)

Quality of care in for-profit and not-for-profit nursing homes: systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective To compare quality of care in for-profit and not-for-profit nursing homes

Herbivory and nutrients shape grassland soil seed banks

Anthropogenic nutrient enrichment and shifts in herbivory can lead to dramatic changes in the composition and diversity of aboveground plant communities. In turn, this can alter seed banks in the soil, which are cryptic reservoirs of plant diversity. Here, we use data from seven Nutrient Network grassland sites on four continents, encompassing a range of climatic and environmental conditions, to test the joint effects of fertilization and aboveground mammalian herbivory on seed banks and on the similarity between aboveground plant communities and seed banks. We find that fertilization decreases plant species richness and diversity in seed banks, and homogenizes composition between aboveground and seed bank communities. Fertilization increases seed bank abundance especially in the presence of herbivores, while this effect is smaller in the absence of herbivores. Our findings highlight that nutrient enrichment can weaken a diversity maintaining mechanism in grasslands, and that herbivory needs to be considered when assessing nutrient enrichment effects on seed bank abundance.EEA Santa CruzFil: Eskelinen, Anu. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research; AlemaniaFil: Eskelinen, Anu. Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research. Department of Physiological Diversity; AlemaniaFil: Eskelinen, Anu. University of Oulu. Ecology & Genetics; FinlandiaFil: Jessen, Maria Theresa. Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research. Department of Physiological Diversity; AlemaniaFil: Jessen, Maria Theresa. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research; AlemaniaFil: Jessen, Maria Theresa. Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ. Department of Community Ecology; AlemaniaFil: Bahamonde, Hector Alejandro. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales; Argentina.Fil: Bakker, Jonathan D. University of Washington. School of Environmental and Forest Sciences; Estados UnidosFil: Borer, Elizabeth T. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution & Behavior; Estados UnidosFil: Caldeira, Maria C. University of Lisbon. Forest Research Centre. Associate Laboratory TERRA. School of Agriculture; Portugal.Fil: Harpole, William Stanley. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv); AlemaniaFil: Harpole, William Stanley. Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ. Department of Community Ecology; AlemaniaFil: Harpole, William Stanley. Martin Luther University. Institute of Biology; AlemaniaFil: Jia, Meiyu. University of Washington. School of Environmental and Forest Sciences; Estados UnidosFil: Jia, Meiyu. East China University of Technology. School of Water Resources & Environmental Engineering; China.Fil: Jia, Meiyu. Beijing Normal University. College of Life Sciences; China.Fil: Lannes, Luciola S. São Paulo State University-UNESP. Department of Biology and Animal Sciences; Brasil.Fil: Nogueira, Carla. University of Lisbon. Forest Research Centre. Associate Laboratory TERRA. School of Agriculture; Portugal.Fil: Venterink, Harry Olde. Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). Department of Biology; BélgicaFil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz; Argentina.Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral; Argentina.Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina.Fil: Porath-Krause, Anita J. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution & Behavior; Estados UnidosFil: Seabloom, Eric William. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution & Behavior; Estados UnidosFil: Schroeder, Katie. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution & Behavior; Estados UnidosFil: Schroeder, Katie. University of Georgia. Odum School of Ecology; Estados UnidosFil: Tognetti, Pedro M. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía; Argentina.Fil: Tognetti, Pedro M. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura (IFEVA); Argentina.Fil: Tognetti, Pedro M. Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL; SuizaFil: Yasui, Simone-Louise E. Queensland University of Technology. School of Biological and Environmental Sciences; Australia.Fil: Virtanen, Risto. University of Oulu. Ecology & Genetics; FinlandiaFil: Sullivan, Lauren L. University of Missouri. Division of Biological Sciences; Estados UnidosFil: Sullivan, Lauren L. Michigan State University. Department of Plant Biology; Estados UnidosFil: Sullivan, Lauren L. Michigan State University. W. K. Kellogg Biological Station; Estados UnidosFil: Sullivan, Lauren L. Michigan State University. Ecology, Evolution and Behavior Program; Estados Unido

Sustainable human resource management and job satisfaction— unlocking the power of organizational identification: A cross-cultural perspective from 54 countries

Sustainable human resource management is gaining importance in organizations due to its role in developing a sustainable work environment and well-being. This paper discusses the relationship between employee perceptions of sustainable human resource management and job satisfaction in 54 countries. We propose that sustainable HRM is positively associated with job satisfaction but that this relationship is moderated by employees’ identification with the organization and country-level individualism-collectivism. Thus, we suggest national culture functions as a second-level moderator of the relationship of sustainable HRM with organizational identification on job satisfaction. Findings from the multi-level analyses using data from 14,502 employees nested within 54 countries provided support for our hypotheses, namely that employee perceptions of sustainable HRM were positively associated with job satisfaction and that this relationship was more pronounced for employees with lower levels compared to higher levels of organizational identification in individualistic rather than collectivistic countries. These findings bear important implications for both theory and practice

Conjunctive input processing drives feature selectivity in hippocampal CA1 neurons

Feature-selective firing allows networks to produce representations of the external and internal environments. Despite its importance, the mechanisms generating neuronal feature selectivity are incompletely understood. In many cortical microcircuits the integration of two functionally distinct inputs occurs nonlinearly through generation of active dendritic signals that drive burst firing and robust plasticity. To examine the role of this processing in feature selectivity, we recorded CA1 pyramidal neuron membrane potential and local field potential in mice running on a linear treadmill. We found that dendritic plateau potentials were produced by an interaction between properly timed input from entorhinal cortex and hippocampal CA3. These conjunctive signals positively modulated the firing of previously established place fields and rapidly induced new place field formation to produce feature selectivity in CA1 that is a function of both entorhinal cortex and CA3 input. Such selectivity could allow mixed network level representations that support context-dependent spatial maps.Howard Hughes Medical InstituteRikagaku Kenkyūjo (Japan