Women’s Behavioral Responses to the Threat of a Hypothetical Date Rape Stimulus: A Qualitative Analysis

One in four college women experience sexual assault on campus; yet, campuses rarely provide the in-depth self-defense programs needed to reduce sexual assault risk. Further, little is known about the range of possible behaviors elicited by sexual assault threat stimuli besides assertion. To fill this gap, the aim of the current study was to explore qualitative themes in women’s intended behavioral responses to a hypothetical sexual assault threat, date rape, by using a laboratory-controlled threat. College women (N = 139) were randomly assigned to one of four different levels of sexual assault threat presented via an audio-recorded vignette. Participants articulated how they would hypothetically respond to the experimentally assigned threat. Responses were blinded and analyzed using Consensual Qualitative Research methodology. Six major themes emerged: assertion, compliance/acceptance, conditional decision making, avoidance, expressions of discomfort, and allusion to future contact. Although almost all participants described assertion, a number of non-assertive responses were described that are not currently recognized in the literature. These non-assertive responses, including compliance/acceptance, conditional decision making, and avoidance, may represent unique behavioral response styles and likely reflect the complex psychological process of behavioral response to threat. The variety of themes found illustrates the great range of behavioral responses to threat. This broad range is not currently well represented or measured in the literature and better understanding of these responses can inform future interventions, advocacy efforts, and policies focused on sexual assault

"Chinese Virus” as Anchor for Engaging with COVID-19 Information: Anchoring Bias Leading to Racism and Xenophobia

Information dissemination from official sources coupled with adoption of message by the public during a pandemic crisis (COVID- 19) are essential components of collective action aimed at combating virus spread. During the onset of the COVID-19 crisis in the USA, President Donald Trump referred to the Coronavirus outbreak as a result of a “Chinese virus.” The president justified his choice of words given that the virus “originated in China.” Although indeed the virus was reported as originating in Wuhan, China, concerns about the use of the term and xenophobic/racist feelings emerged as a result. Considering that individuals are constantly engaging with information about the severe repercussion of the pandemic; social distancing, constant hand washing, disinfecting surfaces, economic consequences of rapid spread, increased death toll, and changes in our modus vivendi, for example, labeling the pandemic might result in anchoring bias. Anchoring bias is a consequence of random and at times uninformed outset (initial information) influencing perception of subsequent information. Therefore, when individuals attempt to adjust to new information, features of the anchor (initial information) to make judgements of new evidence persist. Thus, “Chinese virus” might inform attitudes towards new information presented on social media. In order to understand repercussions of labeling the pandemic, data is being collected via Tweet stream about COVID-19 to understand emotional content of tweets (emotional content analysis). Terms used to define criteria include “coronavirus,” “corona virus,” “covid-19,” “covid19,” and “Chinese,” “Chinese-virus.” Additionally, by using location-based tweets, scope was limited to tweets within the USA

The Red Sea, Coastal Landscapes, and Hominin Dispersals

This chapter provides a critical assessment of environment, landscape and resources in the Red Sea region over the past five million years in relation to archaeological evidence of hominin settlement, and of current hypotheses about the role of the region as a pathway or obstacle to population dispersals between Africa and Asia and the possible significance of coastal colonization. The discussion assesses the impact of factors such as topography and the distribution of resources on land and on the seacoast, taking account of geographical variation and changes in geology, sea levels and palaeoclimate. The merits of northern and southern routes of movement at either end of the Red Sea are compared. All the evidence indicates that there has been no land connection at the southern end since the beginning of the Pliocene period, but that short sea crossings would have been possible at lowest sea-level stands with little or no technical aids. More important than the possibilities of crossing the southern channel is the nature of the resources available in the adjacent coastal zones. There were many climatic episodes wetter than today, and during these periods water draining from the Arabian escarpment provided productive conditions for large mammals and human populations in coastal regions and eastwards into the desert. During drier episodes the coastal region would have provided important refugia both in upland areas and on the emerged shelves exposed by lowered sea level, especially in the southern sector and on both sides of the Red Sea. Marine resources may have offered an added advantage in coastal areas, but evidence for their exploitation is very limited, and their role has been over-exaggerated in hypotheses of coastal colonization

The bashful and the boastful : prestigious leaders and social change in Mesolithic Societies

The creation and maintenance of influential leaders and authorities is one of the key themes of archaeological and historical enquiry. However the social dynamics of authorities and leaders in the Mesolithic remains a largely unexplored area of study. The role and influence of authorities can be remarkably different in different situations yet they exist in all societies and in almost all social contexts from playgrounds to parliaments. Here we explore the literature on the dynamics of authority creation, maintenance and contestation in egalitarian societies, and discuss the implications for our interpretation and understanding of the formation of authorities and leaders and changing social relationships within the Mesolithic

New perspectives on evolutionary medicine: the relevance of microevolution for human health and disease

Evolutionary medicine (EM) is a growing field focusing on the evolutionary basis of human diseases and their changes through time. To date, the majority of EM studies have used pure theories of hominin macroevolution to explain the present-day state of human health. Here, we propose a different approach by addressing more empirical and health-oriented research concerning past, current and future microevolutionary changes of human structure, functions and pathologies. Studying generation-to-generation changes of human morphology that occurred in historical times, and still occur in present-day populations under the forces of evolution, helps to explain medical conditions and warns clinicians that their current practices may influence future humans. Also, analyzing historic tissue specimens such as mummies is crucial in order to address the molecular evolution of pathogens, of the human genome, and their coadaptations.Frank Jakobus Rühli and Maciej Henneber

Towards a new image processing system at Wendelstein 7-X: From spatial calibration to characterization of thermal events

Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) is the most advanced fusion experiment in the stellarator line and is aimed at proving that the stellarator concept is suitable for a fusion reactor. One of the most important issues for fusion reactors is the monitoring of plasma facing components when exposed to very high heat loads, through the use of visible and infrared (IR) cameras. In this paper, a new image processing system for the analysis of the strike lines on the inboard limiters from the first W7-X experimental campaign is presented. This system builds a model of the IR cameras through the use of spatial calibration techniques, helping to characterize the strike lines by using the information given by real spatial coordinates of each pixel. The characterization of the strike lines is made in terms of position, size, and shape, after projecting the camera image in a 2D grid which tries to preserve the curvilinear surface distances between points. The description of the strike-line shape is made by means of the Fourier Descriptors