Human values and attitudes towards immigration and climate change in Germany: the moderating role of challenge and threat perceptions and political ideology

Immigration and climate change are the cause of heated debates among the German public. From a socio psychological perspective, it is crucial to understand which factors shape and influence opinions and attitudes towards these topics. We proposed the human values as developed by Schwartz (1992) as good determinants of attitudes towards immigration and climate change. The present study also examined how challenge and threat perceptions of either immigration or climate change influenced the relationship between human values, namely conservation and self-transcendence, and attitudes towards immigration, or climate change respectively, as well as attitudes towards institutional and social trust. We assumed that challenge and threat perceptions would moderate the tested relationships. Furthermore, we assumed that left- and right-wing ideologies would moderate the relationships in a similar way as challenge and threat perceptions would. We used data from the European Social Survey (ESS), round 7 and 8, from 2014 (N=3045) and from 2016 (N=2852) and conducted several moderation analyses. Our findings did not give substantial support to our assumptions as most of the moderation effects were either non-significant or very weak.A imigração e as mudanças climáticas são a causa de intensos debates entre a sociedade alemã. De uma perspectiva sócio-psicológica, é crucial entender quais os fatores que moldam e influenciam as opiniões e atitudes em relação a estes assuntos. Propomos os valores humanos desenvolvidos por Schwartz (1992) como bons determinantes de atitudes em relação à imigração e às mudanças climáticas. O presente estudo, assim como as percepções de desafio e ameaça da imigração ou das mudanças climáticas, influenciaram a relação entre os valores humanos, ou seja, conservação e autotranscendência e atitudes em relação à imigração ou mudanças climáticas, bem como as atitudes em relação à confiança institucional e social. Presumimos que as percepções de desafio e ameaça moderariam os relacionamentos testados. Além disso, presume-se que as ideologias de esquerda e de direita moderariam os relacionamentos de maneira semelhante às percepções de desafio e ameaça. Utilizando dados do European Social Survey (ESS), rounds 7 e 8, de 2014 (N = 3045) e de 2016 (N = 2852) e conduzimos várias análises de moderação. As descobertas não deram suporte substancial às suposições, já que a maioria dos efeitos de moderação não foram significativos ou foram muito fracos

Religious Verse in Leningrad Samizdat: Origins and Confluences

Religious, in particularly Christian imagery, was ubiquitous in Leningrad samizdat poetry of the 1970s. This essay addresses two main questions that are closely related: is the term «religious verse» appropriate for this kind of poetry; how are we to define «religious» in this case? Secondly, what were the common denominators of religious verse in 1970s Leningrad.

Case Study: Galina Rymbu, "Moia vagina," June 2020

On 27 June 2020, the prominent feminist poet Galina Rymbu published the poem «Моя вагина» (“My Vagina”) on her Facebook feed. «Моя вагина» is a solidarity poem, written in support of artist and LGBTQ activist Iuliia Tsvetkova, who is facing a charge of distributing pornography for her abstract paintings of vaginas in a group on the social media platform VKontakte. Rymbu’s poem created huge resonance: it was shared, translated and republished on various platforms on the web and in print, examined by researchers, and debated as both a work of literature and a political statement. The present article charts the story of this remarkable poem, from its origins to its formal properties, its place within contemporary feminist poetry and its close links to feminist activism, and the reactions it has triggered. It also analyses the follow-up poem Rymbu wrote in reply to her detractors, «Великая русская литература» (“Great Russian Literature”), with a focus on Rymbu’s ingenious play on personal pronouns. Finally, it will briefly look at the role of social media for the literary process in Russia, specifically the field of poetry

Konzeptualisierung und Operationalisierung der Unternehmensreputation aus Sicht privater Anleger : Implikationen für Forschung und Praxis auf Basis empirischer Analysen unter Verwendung des Partial-Least-Squares-Ansatzes

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Quantifying the Human Likeness of a Humanoid Robot

In research of human-robot interactions, human likeness (HL) of robots is frequently used as an individual, vague parameter to describe how a robot is perceived by a human. However, such a simplification of HL is often not sufficient given the complexity and multidimensionality of human-robot interaction. Therefore, HL must be seen as a variable influenced by a network of parameter fields. The first goal of this paper is to introduce such a network which systematically characterizes all relevant aspects of HL. The network is subdivided into ten parameter fields, five describing static aspects of appearance and five describing dynamic aspects of behavior. The second goal of this paper is to propose a methodology to quantify the impact of single or multiple parameters out of these fields on perceived HL. Prior to quantification, the minimal perceivable difference, i.e. the threshold of perception, is determined for the parameters of interest in a first experiment. Thereafter, these parameters are modified in whole-number multiple of the threshold of perception to investigate their influence on perceived HL in a second experiment. This methodology was illustrated on the parameters speed and sequencing (onset of joint movements) of the parameter field movement as well as on the parameter sound. Results revealed that the perceived HL is more sensitive to changes in sequencing than to changes in speed. The sound of the motors during the movement also reduced perceived HL. The presented methodology should guide further, systematic explorations of the proposed network of HL parameters in order to determine and optimize acceptance of humanoid robot

The genetics of winterhardiness in barley : perspectives from genome-wide association mapping

Fall-planted barley makes the best use of available precipitation in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. This growth habit is also suitable to many other areas of the world. A prerequisite for production in most of these areas is tolerance of low temperature during the vegetative growth stages. Fall-planted barley is often equated with winter habit barley. Winter habit type cereals require vernalization: a period of low temperature necessary to trigger the vegetative to reproductive transition. Facultative growth habit defines germplasm that is tolerant of low temperature but do not require vernalization. Cereals achieve their greatest cold tolerance during vegetative stages, and a vegetative condition can be maintained by vernalization sensitivity or sensitivity to short days. As global climate changes and temperatures fluctuate without warning, vernalization sensitivity becomes an unreliable trait for maintaining a vegetative condition, and thus maximizing cold tolerance. Hence the interest in short day sensitive facultative types – provided that maximum cold tolerance can be achieved without vernalization sensitivity. Facultative cereals have the additional advantages that they can be fall or spring planted and they are amenable to rapid cycling breeding methods. In barley, winterhardiness loci have been identified using bi-parental QTL approaches. Candidates for the FR-H1 and FR-H2 QTL are VRN-H1 and a cluster of CBF family members respectively. VRN-H1, which interacts epistatically with VRN-H2 and VRN-H3, is also a major player in vernalization sensitivity. FR-H1 and FR-H2 are approximately 30 cM apart on the long arm of chromosome 5H. The candidate genes for the PPD-H1 and PPD-H2 photoperiod sensitivity QTL are HvPRR7 on chromosome 2H and HvFT3 on chromosome 1H respectively. Genome-wide association mapping provides a complementary or alternative approach to bi-parental mapping. In this research, we explored the genetics of winterhardiness in barley germplasm through genome-wide association mapping. We identified the same FR-H1, FR-H2, VRN-H2, PPD-H1 and PPD-H2 QTL identified via bi-parental QTL mapping. We found that FR-H1/FR-H2/VRN-H2 haplotypes predict maximum cold tolerant facultative germplasm with high certainty and that facultative germplasm is as cold tolerant as vernalization sensitive germplasm

Genetic analysis of BYVD resistance and low temperature tolerance in winter x spring barley crosses

The development of winter 6-row malting barley varieties is an objective of the OSU program. The program's winter germplasm is quite susceptible to Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV). The program recently released the spring 2-row variety Orca, which carries the Yd2 gene for BYDV resistance. The objective of this project was to transfer the Yd2 gene from Orca to the winter varieties Strider and Kold. A molecular marker tightly linked to the Yd2 locus was used to facilitate the introgression of this gene from the spring to the winter ger nplasm pool In 1998, six-row plants were selected in F2 populations derived from crosses of Orca x Kold and Orca x Spider. DNA was extracted from these plants for genotyping with the molecular marker YLM, which is tightly linked to the Yd2 locus on the long arm of chromosome 3 (311). In order to encourage natural infection by BYDV-infected aphids, the F3 families tracing to selected F2 plants were planted one month before the usual planting date in the fall of 1998. Unusually low temperatures in December 1998 led to significant winter injury, leading to the loss of approximately 70% of the F3 families in each of the two populations. Phenotype data (visual rating of BYDV symptoms on F2 plants and F3 families, and visual rating of winter survival in F3 families) and genotype data (allelic structure of each F2 plant at the YLM locus) were collected to determine the genotype of the F3 phenotypic selections and to assess the utility of the marker locus as tools for rapidly introgressing target alleles from spring to winter germplasm

A reconfigurable, tendon-based haptic interface for research into human-environment interactions

Human reaction to external stimuli can be investigated in a comprehensive way by using a versatile virtual-reality setup involving multiple display technologies. It is apparent that versatility remains a main challenge when human reactions are examined through the use of haptic interfaces as the interfaces must be able to cope with the entire range of diverse movements and forces/torques a human subject produces. To address the versatility challenge, we have developed a large-scale reconfigurable tendon-based haptic interface which can be adapted to a large variety of task dynamics and is integrated into a Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE). To prove the versatility of the haptic interface, two tasks, incorporating once the force and once the velocity extrema of a human subject's extremities, were implemented: a simulator with 3-DOF highly dynamic force feedback and a 3-DOF setup optimized to perform dynamic movements. In addition, a 6-DOF platform capable of lifting a human subject off the ground was realized. For these three applications, a position controller was implemented, adapted to each task, and tested. In the controller tests with highly different, task-specific trajectories, the three robot configurations fulfilled the demands on the application-specific accuracy which illustrates and confirms the versatility of the developed haptic interfac

A neurorobotic platform for locomotor prosthetic development in rats and mice

Objectives. We aimed to develop a robotic interface capable of providing finely-tuned, multidirectional trunk assistance adjusted in real-time during unconstrained locomotion in rats and mice. Approach. We interfaced a large-scale robotic structure actuated in four degrees of freedom to exchangeable attachment modules exhibiting selective compliance along distinct directions. This combination allowed high-precision force and torque control in multiple directions over a large workspace. We next designed a neurorobotic platform wherein real-time kinematics and physiological signals directly adjust robotic actuation and prosthetic actions. We tested the performance of this platform in both rats and mice with spinal cord injury. Main Results. Kinematic analyses showed that the robotic interface did not impede locomotor movements of lightweight mice that walked freely along paths with changing directions and height profiles. Personalized trunk assistance instantly enabled coordinated locomotion in mice and rats with severe hindlimb motor deficits. Closed-loop control of robotic actuation based on ongoing movement features enabled real-time control of electromyographic activity in anti-gravity muscles during locomotion. Significance. This neurorobotic platform will support the study of the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of locomotor prosthetics and rehabilitation using high-resolution genetic tools in rodent models