"We have no quarrel with you": Effects of group status on characterizations of "conflict" with an outgroup

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record In three studies, we examined the effect of intergroup status on group members' tendencies to characterize the ingroup's relationship with an outgroup as conflictual following outgroup action. Findings from all three studies supported the prediction that the intergroup relationship would be characterized as less conflictual when the ingroup had relatively high rather than low status. Consistent with the hypothesis that the effect of status reflects strategic concerns, it was moderated by the perceived relevance of the outgroup's action to intergroup status relations (study 1), it was sensitive to audience (study 2), and it was partially mediated by status management concerns (study 3). The role of strategic, status-related factors in intergroup relations is discussed.Leverhulme TrustEconomic and Social Research Council (ESRC

Influence of Heat Treatment on the Degradation Behaviour of Degradable Magnesium Based Implants

Aim of the study was to characterise the influence of heat treatment on the degradation behaviour and stability of degradable magnesium based implants. For this purpose two groups (untreated/ heat treated) of LAE442 pins were separately analysed in an in vitro and in vivo study. The corrosion behaviour was evaluated during 8 weeks degradation in SBF (in vitro) and 48 weeks degradation intramedullary in the rabbit tibia (in vivo). The analyses were made by using μ-computed tomography and three-point-bending tests. Heat treatment led to altered mechanical and corrosion properties of LAE442.While the initial stability declined significantly a reduction of the degradation rate over either in vitro and in vivo evaluation period is determined. If these alterations are still reasonable for osteosynthesis implants remains to be investigated in further projects.DFG/SFB/59

Profiling soil microbial communities influenced by reduced summer precipitation and farming system history

Soil bacteria and fungi are the basis of soil food webs and contribute to a wide range of essential soil functions in arable lands. Intense land use and climate change induced reductions in summer precipitation can have varying influences on abundance, composition, and activity of microbial communities with largely unknown consequences for soil functions and plant growth including crop yields. The impact of altered precipitation patterns on soil biodiversity and associated ecosystem functions is on top of the list of eight major research gaps identified by an expert group for the European Commission still, this relationship is rarely studied under field conditions

Native defects and self-diffusion in GaSb

The native defects in GaSb have been studied with first-principles total-energy calculations. We report the structures and the formation energies of the stable defects and estimate the defect concentrations under different growth conditions. The most important native defect is the GaSb antisite, which acts as an acceptor. The other important defects are the acceptor-type Ga vacancy and the donor-type Ga interstitial. The Sb vacancies and interstitials are found to have much higher formation energies. A metastable state is observed for the SbGa antisite. The significantly larger concentrations of the Ga vacancies and interstitials compared to the corresponding Sb defects is in accordance with the asymmetric self-diffusion behavior in GaSb. The data supports the next-nearest-neighbor model for the self-diffusion, in which the migration occurs independently in the different sublattices. Self-diffusion is dominated by moving Ga atoms.Peer reviewe

Multimodal brain imaging reveals structural differences in Alzheimer's disease polygenic risk carriers: A study in healthy young adults

Background Recent genome-wide association studies have identified genetic loci that jointly make a considerable contribution to risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Because neuropathological features of AD can be present several decades before disease onset, we investigated whether effects of polygenic risk are detectable by neuroimaging in young adults. We hypothesized that higher polygenic risk scores (PRSs) for AD would be associated with reduced volume of the hippocampus and other limbic and paralimbic areas. We further hypothesized that AD PRSs would affect the microstructure of fiber tracts connecting the hippocampus with other brain areas. Methods We analyzed the association between AD PRSs and brain imaging parameters using T1-weighted structural (n = 272) and diffusion-weighted scans (n = 197). Results We found a significant association between AD PRSs and left hippocampal volume, with higher risk associated with lower left hippocampal volume (p = .001). This effect remained when the APOE gene was excluded (p = .031), suggesting that the relationship between hippocampal volume and AD is the result of multiple genetic factors and not exclusively variability in the APOE gene. The diffusion tensor imaging analysis revealed that fractional anisotropy of the right cingulum was inversely correlated with AD PRSs (p = .009). We thus show that polygenic effects of AD risk variants on brain structure can already be detected in young adults. Conclusions This finding paves the way for further investigation of the effects of AD risk variants and may become useful for efforts to combine genotypic and phenotypic data for risk prediction and to enrich future prevention trials of AD