Adventures in Solitude: The Link Between Social Isolation and Violent Extremism

Domestic extremists pose a serious threat to the United States, with recent research suggesting that America is experiencing an upswing in radicalization. The present research explores an important motivational mechanism through which people could become an extremist: social isolation. When socially isolated from others, people are deprived of the certainty of normative structure, the fundamental need to belong, and meaningful social connection. In order to investigate the relationship between social isolation and extremism, we ran two cross-sectional studies with a student population (Study 1; N = 269) and a sample of U.S. residents (Study 2; N = 391). Results from Study 1 suggest that extremism is highest in individuals who spend more time alone and have a smaller social network. Additionally, this relationship is mediated by loneliness. Results from Study 2 suggest that greater loneliness, need to belong, and norm deviation is associated with greater extremism. Additionally, replicating the finding of the first study, the link between social isolation (operationalized as greater time spent alone and smaller social network) and extremism is mediated by loneliness. This research has important implications for understanding motivations that drive extremism and for countering violent extremism. The results of these studies are especially pertinent because people are more isolated now than ever before

Attitudes Towards Racism in KKK Forums: Denouncement, Avoidance, and Neutralization

Recent research has attempted to better understand the complexity of modern terrorism, which seems evermore present in our worldview. However, the scope of the literature lacks representation of far-right ideology, and that of White supremacists within the campaign. Specifically, the potential fear of being labeled as a racist has been recognized as both an obstacle to communicating racial issues and as a potential driver behind the self-imposed social exclusion of White supremacists, which may further contribute to their radicalization rigidity around race-relevant political issues. The current study is an inquiry into the internal perceptions and conceptualizations of racism among members of the Ku Klux Klan. This study examined occurrences of fear-related sentiments used by KKK members surrounding their racist ideology within a large corpus (1.8 million words) of written exchanges in an online forum concerning current events. For detecting expressions of fear of being labeled as racists, the corpus was concordance for any occurrence of the word-stem racist. The results suggest that the concept of racism is both complex and diverse among seemingly like-minded KKK members who subscribe to White supremacy tenets. Furthermore, for a group that explicitly endorses racist beliefs, both the fear of being labeled as racists and the implicit negative connotations to racism were surprisingly high. These complex formulations of racism were embedded within the group’s denial and neutralization of any ‘true’ racism in their sentiments, attitudes, or behaviors. This study’s results are relevant to the construction of ecologically-valid counter-messaging campaigns that engage with the empirically-derived, internal attitudes of White supremacists

Access to Justice Online: Are Canadian Court Websites Accessible for Users with Visual Impairments?

Steps taken to make legal information available online have resulted in access to justice benefits for many. However, these benefits may not extend to everyone equally. As scholars have cautioned, the adoption of new technologies that purport to improve access to justice may perpetuate the exclusion of vulnerable and marginalized individuals and groups from the justice system. This article applies this insight to legal information made available online by Canadian court websites and CanLII. It does so through a two-part study. First, we used an automated testing tool to determine whether the websites noted above comply with accessibility standards. Second, after having secured research ethics approval, we worked with Access & Diversity at the University of British Columbia to recruit persons with visual impairments; these participants evaluated the same websites and provided feedback. Our results showed that while largely accessible, the tested websites fall short of best practices, presenting challenges to users with visual impairments. We recommend that Canadian courts correct the deficiencies identified by our study, that other online legal resources be tested for accessibility issues, and that future research focus on the extent to which online legal resources are accessible to other vulnerable or marginalized individuals or groups. Implementing these recommendations will ensure that the access to justice benefits of online legal information are extended to everyone

Tuning the relaxation rates of dual-mode T?/T? nanoparticle contrast agents: a study into the ideal system

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an excellent imaging modality. However the low sensitivity of the technique poses a challenge to achieving an accurate image of function at the molecular level. To overcome this, contrast agents are used; typically gadolinium based agents for T? weighted imaging, or iron oxide based agents for T? imaging. Traditionally, only one imaging mode is used per diagnosis although several physiological situations are known to interfere with the signal induced by the contrast agents in each individual imaging mode acquisition. Recently, the combination of both T? and T? imaging capabilities into a single platform has emerged as a tool to reduce uncertainties in MR image analysis. To date, contradicting reports on the effect on the contrast of the coupling of a T? and T? agent have hampered the application of these specialised probes. Herein, we present a systematic experimental study on a range of gadolinium-labelled magnetite nanoparticles envisioned to bring some light into the mechanism of interaction between T? and T? components, and advance towards the design of efficient (dual) T? and T? MRI probes. Unexpected behaviours observed in some of the constructs will be discussed. In this study, we demonstrate that the relaxivity of such multimodal probes can be rationally tuned to obtain unmatched potentials in MR imaging, exemplified by preparation of the magnetite-based nanoparticle with the highest T? relaxivity described to date

Modelling the Evolution of HIV-1 Protein-Coding Sequences with Particular focus on the early stages of Infection

Modelling the Evolution of HIV-1 Protein-Coding Sequences with Particular Focus on the Early Stages of Infection Natasha Thandi Wood, February 2010 The evolution of the viral genome sequence over the course of HIV-1 infection is of interest for vaccine and drug design, and for the development of effective treatment strategies. Characteristics of the transmitted viral genome that could render the virus more sensitive to host immune responses, are of particular interest for vaccine studies. However, sequence samples from the earliest phase of HIV infection are scarce, and inferences about the nature of the infecting virus and its evolution during the course of early infection are often made from samples isolated from later stages, or from chronic infections. To establish in detail the adaptive changes that occur in early infection, an investigation was carried out on a large dataset consisting of sequences isolated from individuals in early infection. The majority of these infections were inferred to have resulted from transmission of a single virion or virally infected cell, which permitted a detailed investigation of HIV-1 diversification in early infection for the first time. Comparing viral diversification across multiple patients, it was possible to identify specific evolutionary patterns in the HIV-1 genome that occur frequently during the earliest stages of infection. The analyses revealed that APOBEC-mediated hypermutation has an important role in early viral diversification and may enable rapid escape from the first wave of host immune responses. Several mutations in early infection that were likely to result in immune escape were identified, some of which have subsequently been confirmed experimentally. In general, experimental verification of model-based inferences is necessary, but can be expensive and time-consuming. To reduce the costs involved, it is essential that the evolutionary methods produce accurate results. Simulation results presented in this thesis show that inferences made about viral evolution can be subject to bias when key aspects of viral biology are not accounted for by the models used. In particular, some previous comparisons between sequence groups that share genealogical histories, positive selection studies that fail to account for recombination, and research on HIV covariation, may need to be revisited, using more accurate evolutionary models. The results presented in this thesis demonstrate the importance of accurate evolutionary models to understand the selection pressures acting on the virus during various stages of infection. Furthermore, using a phylogenetic model it was possible to identify sites in the HIV genome that were evolving adaptively and are implicated in CTL immune escape during early infection. Characterising escape mutations in the transmitted virus may lead to novel approaches to develop vaccines and antiviral drugs

The Impact of Burnout Identification and Interventions in Nursing Students and Newly Licensed Nurses: A Literature Review

Burnout is a problem that is plaguing the healthcare system globally, potentially resulting in individuals leaving their respective professions. Worldwide, there is a shortage of over 6 million nurses. Newly licensed registered nurses, both the associates degree and baccalaureate prepared, are poorly equipped to manage the stress and emotional exhaustion of providing patient care resulting in new nurses leaving the nursing field within one to two years of graduation. The purpose of this project was to identify: (1) if burnout experienced during nursing school continues into the new graduate nurse’s career; (2) how this influences the new graduate as a newly licensed registered nurse’s choice to exit the profession within the first few years of work; and (3) what interventions can be implemented to minimize burnout and improve retention rates of new nurses. A literature review was conducted, and the Health Belief Model was utilized to guide appropriate recommendations to minimize the negative effects of burnout. Approximately 175,000 registered nurses within the United States will leave the profession each year for a wide range of reasons. If nursing students experience burnout while in their respective programs, job stressors and job demands can increase the probability of newly licensed nurses burning out and subsequently leaving the profession. Implementation of various interventions have been shown to minimize burnout in nursing students and new nurses and subsequent retention in the nursing profession. It is recommended that education regarding burnout be implemented in nursing programs to provide students with the necessary skills to mitigate burnout prior to entering the profession. &nbsp

Ghosting from the workplace: The impact of feedback (or lack thereof) on applicants’ psychological needs satisfaction

Background: Applying for a job can be a stressful experience. When a potential employer chooses to not move forward with a candidate, they can either directly tell them or cease communication altogether—known as ghosting. Ghosting has harmful consequences, such as lower basic psychological needs satisfaction than direct rejection, and there has been an apparent increase in this phenomenon by potential employers. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of being ghosted after submitting a hypothetical job application. Methods: An international sample of unemployed people (N = 554) completed an online job application task and were randomly assigned to receive no (i.e., ghosted), impersonal, or personal feedback. Results: While our manipulation was perceived as intended, there was not an effect of condition on needs satisfaction. However, exploratory analyses suggest that ghosted participants have greater self-esteem and control than those that received personal feedback. Thus, the effect of being ghosted during a job application may not be as clear cut as previously thought. Conclusion: Although the current study did not find evidence that applicants feel worse after being ghosted than being directly rejected, such an experience can still hurt, and more research is needed to understand the long-term effects of being ghosted by a potential employer

The impact of behavioural risk factors on communicable diseases: a systematic review of reviews

Abstract Background The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted that individuals with behavioural risk factors commonly associated with non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as smoking, harmful alcohol use, obesity, and physical inactivity, are more likely to experience severe symptoms from COVID-19. These risk factors have been shown to increase the risk of NCDs, but less is known about their broader influence on communicable diseases. Taking a wide focus on a range of common communicable diseases, this review aimed to synthesise research examining the impact of behavioural risk factors commonly associated with NCDs on risks of contracting, or having more severe outcomes from, communicable diseases. Methods Literature searches identified systematic reviews and meta-analyses that examined the association between behavioural risk factors (alcohol, smoking, illicit drug use, physical inactivity, obesity and poor diet) and the contraction/severity of common communicable diseases, including infection or associated pathogens. An a priori, prospectively registered protocol was followed (PROSPERO; registration number CRD42020223890). Results Fifty-three systematic reviews were included, of which 36 were also meta-analyses. Reviews focused on: tuberculosis, human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis C virus, hepatitis B virus, invasive bacterial diseases, pneumonia, influenza, and COVID-19. Twenty-one reviews examined the association between behavioural risk factors and communicable disease contraction and 35 examined their association with communicable disease outcomes (three examined their association with both contraction and outcomes). Fifty out of 53 reviews (94%) concluded that at least one of the behavioural risk factors studied increased the risk of contracting or experiencing worse health outcomes from a communicable disease. Across all reviews, effect sizes, where calculated, ranged from 0.83 to 8.22. Conclusions Behavioural risk factors play a significant role in the risk of contracting and experiencing more severe outcomes from communicable diseases. Prevention of communicable diseases is likely to be most successful if it involves the prevention of behavioural risk factors commonly associated with NCDs. These findings are important for understanding risks associated with communicable disease, and timely, given the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for improvements in future pandemic preparedness. Addressing behavioural risk factors should be an important part of work to build resilience against any emerging and future epidemics and pandemics