86 research outputs found
Dinitrogen emissions: an overlooked key component of the N balance of montane grasslands
While emissions of nitric oxide (NO), ammonia (NHâ) and nitrous oxide (NâO) from grassland soils have been increasingly well constrained, soil dinitrogen (Nâ) emissions are poorly understood. However, Nâ losses might dominate total gaseous nitrogen (N) losses. Knowledge on N losses is key for the development of climate-adapted management that balances agronomic and environmental needs. Hence, we quantified all gaseous N losses from a montane grassland in Southern Germany both for ambient climatic conditions and for a climate change treatment (+ 2°C MAT, - 300 mm MAP). Monthly measurements of soil Nâ emissions of intact soil cores revealed that those exceeded by far soil NâO emissions and averaged at 350 ± 101 (ambient climate) and 738 ± 197 lg N mÂŻÂČhÂŻÂč (climate change). Because these measurements did not allow to quantify emission peaks after fertilization, an additional laboratory experiment was deployed to quantify the response of NHâ, NO, NâO, and Nâ emissions in sub daily temporal resolution to a typical slurry fertilization event (51 kg N haÂŻÂč). Our results revealed that total N gas losses amounted to roughly half of applied slurry-N. Surprisingly, Nâ but not NHâ dominated fertilizer N losses, with Nâ emissions accounting for 16â21 kg or 31â42% of the applied slurry-N, while NHâ volatilization (3.5 kg), N2O (0.2â0.5 kg) and NO losses (0â0.2 kg) were of minor importance. Though constraining annual Nâ loss remained uncertain due to high spatiotemporal variability of fluxes, we show that Nâ losses are a so far overlooked key component of the N balance in montane grasslands, which needs to be considered for developing improved grassland management strategies targeted at increasing N use efficiency
Effects of nitrogen availability on polymalic acid biosynthesis in the yeast-like fungus Aureobasidium pullulans
Moving Forward in Fostering Humour: Towards Training Lighter Forms of Humour in Multicultural Contexts
The following theoretical position paper has the aim to outline two important future directions of humour intervention research. Firstly, existing humour trainings have not differentiated explicitly between different uses of humour or humour that may be virtuous or not. Within the realm of Positive Psychology, all virtuous forms of humour need to be identified and interventions developed that aim at fostering these benevolent/lighter forms. Secondly, most humour trainings have been adapted and conducted in one cultural context. Future trainings should consider cross-cultural perspectives to allow for comparative research and practice. Thus, the current paper first gives an overview on the extant literature on the distinction between lighter and darker forms of humour, as well as showing how humour can serve the virtues proposed by Peterson and Seligman (2004). Then, we elaborate on the findings on humour and well-being, as well as findings on existing humour interventions. The second section starts with open questions and hypotheses on how a new generation of trainings targeting lighter forms of humour could look like. Then, we discuss (potential) cultural differences in humour and how this may affect the design of interventions. When aiming for cross-cultural adaptations of the same humour program, several challenges have to be overcome, such as the term âhumourâ not having the same meaning in every culture, and cultural rules on what can be laughed at
Narcissism and the strategic pursuit of short-term mating : universal links across 11 world regions of the International Sexuality Description Project-2.
Previous studies have documented links between sub-clinical narcissism and the active pursuit of short-term mating strategies (e.g., unrestricted sociosexuality, marital infidelity, mate poaching). Nearly all of these investigations have relied solely on samples from Western cultures. In the current study, responses from a cross-cultural survey of 30,470 people across 53 nations spanning 11 world regions (North America, Central/South America, Northern Europe, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, Middle East, Africa, Oceania, Southeast Asia, and East Asia) were used to evaluate whether narcissism (as measured by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory; NPI) was universally associated with short-term mating. Results revealed narcissism scores (including two broad factors and seven traditional facets as measured by the NPI) were functionally equivalent across cultures, reliably associating with key sexual outcomes (e.g., more active pursuit of short-term mating, intimate partner violence, and sexual aggression) and sex-related personality traits (e.g., higher extraversion and openness to experience). Whereas some features of personality (e.g., subjective well-being) were universally associated with socially adaptive facets of Narcissism (e.g., self-sufficiency), most indicators of short-term mating (e.g., unrestricted sociosexuality and marital infidelity) were universally associated with the socially maladaptive facets of narcissism (e.g., exploitativeness). Discussion addresses limitations of these cross-culturally universal findings and presents suggestions for future research into revealing the precise psychological features of narcissism that facilitate the strategic pursuit of short-term mating
Patterns and universals of mate poaching across 53 nations : the effects of sex, culture, and personality on romantically attracting another personâs partner
As part of the International Sexuality Description Project, 16,954 participants from 53 nations were administered an anonymous survey about experiences with romantic attraction. Mate poaching--romantically attracting someone who is already in a relationship--was most common in Southern Europe, South America, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe and was relatively infrequent in Africa, South/Southeast Asia, and East Asia. Evolutionary and social-role hypotheses received empirical support. Men were more likely than women to report having made and succumbed to short-term poaching across all regions, but differences between men and women were often smaller in more gender-egalitarian regions. People who try to steal another's mate possess similar personality traits across all regions, as do those who frequently receive and succumb to the poaching attempts by others. The authors conclude that human mate-poaching experiences are universally linked to sex, culture, and the robust influence of personal dispositions.peer-reviewe
Are men universally more dismissing than women? Gender differences in romantic attachment across 62 cultural regions
The authors thank Susan Sprecher (USA), Del
Paulhus (Canada), Glenn D. Wilson (England), Qazi
Rahman (England), Alois Angleitner (Germany),
Angelika Hofhansl (Austria), Tamio Imagawa
(Japan), Minoru Wada (Japan), Junichi Taniguchi
(Japan), and Yuji Kanemasa (Japan) for helping with
data collection and contributing significantly to the
samples used in this study.Gender differences in the dismissing form of adult romantic attachment were investigated as part of the International Sexuality Description Projectâa survey study of 17,804 people from 62 cultural regions. Contrary to research findings previously reported in Western cultures, we found that men were not significantly more dismissing than women across all cultural regions. Gender differences in dismissing romantic attachment were evident in most cultures, but were typically only small to moderate in magnitude. Looking across cultures, the degree of gender differentiation in dismissing romantic attachment was predictably associated with sociocultural indicators. Generally, these associations supported evolutionary theories of romantic attachment, with smaller gender differences evident in cultures with highâstress and highâfertility reproductive environments. Social role theories of human sexuality received less support in that more progressive sexârole ideologies and national gender equity indexes were not crossâculturally linked as expected to smaller gender differences in dismissing romantic attachment.peer-reviewe
Accurate comparison of antibody expression levels by reproducible transgene targeting in engineered recombination-competent CHO cells
Narcisismo y bĂșsqueda estratĂ©gica del emparejamiento a corto plazo a travĂ©s de las culturas: Enlaces omnipresentes a travĂ©s de 11 regiones mundiales del Proyecto de la descripciĂłn de la sexualidad internacional 2
Previous studies have documented links between sub-clinical narcissism and the active pursuit of short-term mating strategies (e.g., unrestricted sociosexuality, marital infidelity, mate poaching). Nearly all of these investigations have relied solely on samples from Western cultures. In the current study, responses from a cross-cultural survey of 30,470 people across 53 nations spanning 11 world regions (North America, Central/South America, Northern Europe, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, Middle East, Africa, Oceania, Southeast Asia, and East Asia) were used to evaluate whether narcissism (as measured by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory; NPI) was universally associated with short-term mating. Results revealed narcissism scores (including two broad factors and seven traditional facets as measured by the NPI) were functionally equivalent across cultures, reliably associating with key sexual outcomes (e.g., more active pursuit of short-term mating, intimate partner violence, and sexual aggression) and sex-related personality traits (e.g., higher extraversion and openness to experience). Whereas some features of personality (e.g., subjective well-being) were universally associated with socially adaptive facets of Narcissism (e.g., self-sufficiency), most indicators of short-term mating (e.g., unrestricted sociosexuality and marital infidelity) were universally associated with the socially maladaptive facets of narcissism (e.g., exploitativeness). Discussion addresses limitations of these cross-culturally universal findings and presents suggestions for future research into revealing the precise psychological features of narcissism that facilitate the strategic pursuit of short-term mating.Estudios previos, en primer lugar a travĂ©s de las muestras de culturas occidentales, han documentado asociaciones sistemĂĄticas del narcisismo subclĂnico con mĂșltiples indicadores de estrategias del emparejamiento a corto plazo (p. ej. sociosexualidad ilimitada, infidelidad, caza de pareja). En este estudio se han usado respuestas de la encuesta transcultural de 30.470 personas de 53 naciones de 11 regiones mundiales (AmĂ©rica del Norte, AmĂ©rica del Sur/AmĂ©rica Central, Europa del Norte, Europa del Oeste, Europa del Este, Europa del Sur, Oriente PrĂłximo, Ăfrica, Asia del Sur/Sudoeste de Asia, Asia del Este y OceanĂa) para evaluar si el narcisismo (medido por el Inventario de Personalidad Narcisista; NPI) se asocia panuniversalmente con los indicadores del emparejamiento a corto plazo, tanto en la direcciĂłn, como en la intensidad. Los resultados sugieren que el narcisismo (incluidos muchos aspectos suyos medidos por el NPI) tiene las mismas asociaciones bĂĄsicas con los rasgos de personalidad relacionados con el sexo (p. ej. extraversiĂłn alta) y con los resultados sexuales claves (p. ej. bĂșsqueda mĂĄs activa de las estrategias del emparejamiento a corto plazo) a travĂ©s de las 11 mayores regiones mundiales del PDSI 2. La discusiĂłn se enfoca en las implicaciones y limitaciones del estudio actual
Dendritische Nanostrukturen zur rezeptorvermittelten Aufnahme von siRNA in neurale Zellen
Wir berichten ĂŒber die Entwicklung von dendritischen siRNAâNanostrukturen, die das Einbringen von siRNA in schwierig zu transfizierende Zellen wie Neuronen mithilfe eines speziellen Rezeptorliganden ermöglichen. Die Nanopartikel rufen trotz ihrer dendritischen Struktur eine starke siRNAâAntwort hervor. Durch siRNAâDendrimere gegen das Nukleoprotein (NâProtein) und das Phosphoprotein (PâProtein), zwei SchlĂŒsselproteine des Tollwutvirus (RABV), konnte der Virustiter in Neuronen unter die Nachweisgrenze gesenkt werden. Die mithilfe von KlickâChemie aufgebauten siRNAâDendrimere weisen den Weg fĂŒr eine neuartige Heilungsmöglichkeit dieser tödlichen Krankheit
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