Lay misperceptions of the relationship between men’s benevolent and hostile sexism

Although there is a reliably positive association between hostile (HS) and benevolent sexism (BS), lay perceptions of this association have not been directly tested. I predicted that people perceive an illusory negative association between men’s HS and BS attitudes because lay theories expect men to have univalent attitudes toward women. In Study 1, I manipulated the target’s gender and responses on a subscale of the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (high HS, low HS, high BS, or low BS). The low BS male target (compared to high BS male target) was judged to be higher on HS, less supportive of female professionals, less good of father and husband, and more likely to perpetrate domestic violence. Ratings of the low BS male target were as equally negative as those of the high HS male target. In Study 2, low BS male targets were judged to be low in hostility towards women only if they explicitly stated that their low BS was motivated by egalitarian values, otherwise men’s low BS was assumed to indicate misogyny. Implications of the misconception of BS in men and future directions are discussed

Chivalry is far from dead: Misperceiving the link between men's benevolent and hostile sexism

Although prejudice has traditionally been conceptualized as a univalent antipathy towards a social group, sexist prejudice represents a more nuanced ambivalent attitude that mixes both hostile and benevolent elements. Theory and research on ambivalent sexism indicates that hostile and benevolent sexist attitudes towards women reinforce one another and function together to perpetuate women’s disadvantaged social status. Indeed, at both the individual and population level, endorsement of benevolent sexism tends to be positively correlated with endorsement of hostile sexism. However, because benevolent sexism has a positive veneer people may fail to recognize that a person who is high in benevolent sexism is likely to also be high in hostile sexism whereas a person who is low in benevolent sexism is likely to be low in hostile sexism. In particular, I hypothesized that because benevolent sexism is the dominant cultural model for how men should express their respect for women, a man who rejects benevolent sexism may be at risk of being misperceived as a hostile sexist who disrespects women rather than recognizing that such a man may reject benevolent sexism because he promotes women’s independence and equality with men. By contrast, people may more readily understand that a woman may reject benevolent sexism for such egalitarian reasons. To test these hypotheses I conducted a series of studies in which I experimentally manipulated a target individual’s gender and then varied whether this individual endorsed or rejected either benevolent sexist beliefs or hostile sexist beliefs. After participants viewed this target’s profile they were asked to estimate the target’s levels of the other variety of sexism, their support for female professionals, their qualities as a spouse and parent, and their likelihood of committing domestic abuse (Studies 1-3). In addition to these perceptions of the target’s sexism-related attitudes and behaviours I also measured participants’ perceptions of the target’s more general warmth and agreeableness, relationship qualities, and moral values (Study 3). Results showed that a male target who rejected benevolent sexism (BS) was perceived to be more hostilely sexist, less supportive of female professionals, less good as a parent and spouse, and more likely to perpetrate domestic violence compared to a male target who endorsed BS and also compared to a female target who rejected BS (Studies 1 and 2). This result suggests that people indeed perceive an illusory negative relationship between men’s BS and HS, whereas for women they recognize that low BS can go along with low HS. The results of Study 2 replicated the results of Study 1 and addressed some issues with how endorsement versus rejection was operationalized. Study 3 demonstrated that people’s misunderstanding of the relationship between BS and HS in men leads them to evaluate a man who rejects BS more negatively on warmth, agreeableness, interpersonal qualities, and morality. Finally, Study 4 examined the accuracy of participants’ judgments of the low BS male target from Studies 1-3 by comparing participants’ predictions to the scores of real-life participants whose BS scores matched those of the target. Despite the relative rarity of univalent sexists in real life, participants were much more likely to assume that low BS men were univalent hostile sexists rather than recognizing that it is actually more likely that men who reject BS also reject HS. Cumulatively these results indicate that people have a fundamental misunderstanding of what a man’s endorsement versus rejection of benevolent sexism indicates about his gender-related attitudes and behaviour as well as his broader character. The bias to assume that a man’s rejection of benevolent sexism indicates disrespect for women provides insights into the social psychological processes that help to perpetuate benevolent sexist ideology. The societal implications of these misperceptions and directions, possible moderators and cross-cultural variations, and directions for future research are discussed

Temperature Profile Of the Brain During Suspended Animation

In most cases of serious truncal injuries, cardiac arrest occurs within minutes due the severe blood loss. Although many of these injuries are potentially repairable, death is often resulted from fatal brain damage due to insufficient supply of blood. Suspended animation (SA) is a way to preserve the whole organism by lowering brain temperature during prolonged cardiac arrest (often over one hour). A hypothermic flush of cold saline solution is administered through blood vessels to the brain. By lowering the rate of cerebral metabolic activity, damage to the brain is reduced and the brain can be preserved for later cerebral resuscitation. Current studies have focused on animals but no experiment has been implemented on humans yet. In our project, we use GAMBIT and FIDAP to model the temperature profile of the brain during suspended animation. A suitable model of saline flow through blood vessels in the brain is developed to determine how temperature in the outer brain region changes at any given time. From our model, the temperature in the outer brain quickly drops to 8?C after flushing a saline solution of 4?C. While saline is very effective in reducing outer brain temperature, the decrease in brain temperature can be adjusted by using saline solutions of different temperatures

Lycium barbarum Extracts Protect the Brain from Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption and Cerebral Edema in Experimental Stroke

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Ischemic stroke is a destructive cerebrovascular disease and a leading cause of death. Yet, no ideal neuroprotective agents are available, leaving prevention an attractive alternative. The extracts from the fruits of Lycium barbarum (LBP), a Chinese anti-aging medicine and food supplement, showed neuroprotective function in the retina when given prophylactically. We aim to evaluate the protective effects of LBP pre-treatment in an experimental stroke model. METHODS: C57BL/6N male mice were first fed with either vehicle (PBS) or LBP (1 or 10 mg/kg) daily for 7 days. Mice were then subjected to 2-hour transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) by the intraluminal method followed by 22-hour reperfusion upon filament removal. Mice were evaluated for neurological deficits just before sacrifice. Brains were harvested for infarct size estimation, water content measurement, immunohistochemical analysis, and Western blot experiments. Evans blue (EB) extravasation was determined to assess blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption after MCAO. RESULTS: LBP pre-treatment significantly improved neurological deficits as well as decreased infarct size, hemispheric swelling, and water content. Fewer apoptotic cells were identified in LBP-treated brains by TUNEL assay. Reduced EB extravasation, fewer IgG-leaky vessels, and up-regulation of occludin expression were also observed in LBP-treated brains. Moreover, immunoreactivity for aquaporin-4 and glial fibrillary acidic protein were significantly decreased in LBP-treated brains. CONCLUSIONS: Seven-day oral LBP pre-treatment effectively improved neurological deficits, decreased infarct size and cerebral edema as well as protected the brain from BBB disruption, aquaporin-4 up-regulation, and glial activation. The present study suggests that LBP may be used as a prophylactic neuroprotectant in patients at high risk for ischemic stroke.published_or_final_versio

A Genome-Wide Knockout Screen in Human Macrophages Identified Host Factors Modulating Salmonella Infection.

A genome-scale CRISPR knockout library screen of THP-1 human macrophages was performed to identify loss-of-function mutations conferring resistance to Salmonella uptake. The screen identified 183 candidate genes, from which 14 representative genes involved in actin dynamics (ACTR3, ARPC4, CAPZB, TOR3A, CYFIP2, CTTN, and NHLRC2), glycosaminoglycan metabolism (B3GNT1), receptor signaling (PDGFB and CD27), lipid raft formation (CLTCL1), calcium transport (ATP2A2 and ITPR3), and cholesterol metabolism (HMGCR) were analyzed further. For some of these pathways, known chemical inhibitors could replicate the Salmonella resistance phenotype, indicating their potential as targets for host-directed therapy. The screen indicated a role for the relatively uncharacterized gene NHLRC2 in both Salmonella invasion and macrophage differentiation. Upon differentiation, NHLRC2 mutant macrophages were hyperinflammatory and did not exhibit characteristics typical of macrophages, including atypical morphology and inability to interact and phagocytose bacteria/particles. Immunoprecipitation confirmed an interaction of NHLRC2 with FRYL, EIF2AK2, and KLHL13.IMPORTANCESalmonella exploits macrophages to gain access to the lymphatic system and bloodstream to lead to local and potentially systemic infections. With an increasing number of antibiotic-resistant isolates identified in humans, Salmonella infections have become major threats to public health. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify alternative approaches to anti-infective therapy, including host-directed therapies. In this study, we used a simple genome-wide screen to identify 183 candidate host factors in macrophages that can confer resistance to Salmonella infection. These factors may be potential therapeutic targets against Salmonella infections

Transcriptomic Comparison of Human Peripartum and Dilated Cardiomyopathy Identifies Differences in Key Disease Pathways

Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a rare form of acute onset heart failure that presents in otherwise healthy pregnant women around the time of delivery. While most of these women respond to early intervention, about 20% progress to end-stage heart failure that symptomatically resembles dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). In this study, we examined two independent RNAseq datasets from the left ventricle of end-stage PPCM patients and compared gene expression profiles to female DCM and non-failing donors. Differential gene expression, enrichment analysis and cellular deconvolution were performed to identify key processes in disease pathology. PPCM and DCM display similar enrichment in metabolic pathways and extracellular matrix remodeling suggesting these are similar processes across end-stage systolic heart failure. Genes involved in golgi vesicles biogenesis and budding were enriched in PPCM left ventricles compared to healthy donors but were not found in DCM. Furthermore, changes in immune cell populations are evident in PPCM but to a lesser extent compared to DCM, where the latter is associated with pronounced pro-inflammatory and cytotoxic T cell activity. This study reveals several pathways that are common to end-stage heart failure but also identifies potential targets of disease that may be unique to PPCM and DCM.</p

Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy for medically inoperable early stage lung cancer: early outcomes

Objective To evaluate the clinical outcome and safety of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy for medically inoperable stage I non- small-cell lung carcinoma. Design Retrospective case series. Setting Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, Hong Kong. Patients All patients with medically inoperable stage I non-small-cell lung carcinoma receiving stereotactic ablative radiotherapy since its establishment in 2008. Main outcome measures Disease control rate, overall survival, and treatment toxicities. Results Sixteen stage I non-small-cell lung carcinoma patients underwent the procedure from June 2008 to November 2011. The median patient age was 82 years and the majority (81%) had moderate-tosevere co-morbidity based on the Adult Comorbidity Evaluation 27 index. With a median follow-up of 22 months, the 2-year primary tumour control rate, disease-free survival and overall survival rates were 91%, 71% and 87%, respectively. No grade 3 (National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events) or higher treatment-related complications were reported. Conclusion Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy can achieve a high degree of local control safely in medically inoperable patients with early lung cancer.published_or_final_versio

The financial cost of doctors emigrating from sub-Saharan Africa: human capital analysis

Objective To estimate the lost investment of domestically educated doctors migrating from sub-Saharan African countries to Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States