Unemployment alters the set-point for life satisfaction

According to set-point theories of subjective well-being, people react to events, but then return to initial levels of happiness and satisfaction over time. We test this idea by examining reaction and adaptation to unemployment in a 15-year longitudinal study. In accordance with set-point theory, individuals first reacted strongly to unemployment and then shifted back toward their former (or “baseline”) levels of life satisfaction. However, on average, individuals did not completely return to their former levels of life satisfaction, even after they became re-employed. The findings suggests that even a short period of unemployment can cause an alteration in a person’s long-term set-point. Within-person analyses showed, however, that there are considerable individual differences in reaction and adaptation to unemployment. Although there was substantial stability in life satisfaction over the years, unemployment did influence long-term levels, thus suggesting that in addition to personality, long-term subjective well-being can also be influenced by life circumstances

Variation in Loblolly Pine Cross-Sectional Microfibril Angle With Tree Height and Physiographic Region

The effect of height and physiographic region on whole disk cross-sectional microfibril angle (CSMFA) in loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) in the southern United States was evaluated. Whole disk CSMFA was determined at 1.4, 4.6, 7.6, 10.7, and 13.7 m up the stem of 59 trees, representing five physiographic regions. A mixed-effects analysis of variance was performed to test the significance of height, region, and the height by region interaction on CSMFA. Height, region, and the height by region interaction terms were all found to be significant at the 0.10 level. Significant differences were found in CSMFA between 1.4 m and all other height levels in all regions. However, there was no difference between CSMFA at 1.4 m and 13.7 m in the Gulf Coastal Plain. No significant difference was found in CSMFA between 4.5, 7.6, and 10.7 meter-height levels in all regions. CSMFA was found to be significantly larger in the north Atlantic and Piedmont regions compared to the south Atlantic, Gulf, and Hilly regions at all heights. The analysis of variance also indicated that significant variation exists among trees within stands and across stands within regions. This is an indicator that aside from the distinct patterns of CSMFA within trees, other factors including site quality, length of growing season, rainfall, and genetics could possibly play a key role in CSMFA development

A high proportion of the world population of the spoon-billed sandpiper occurs at Tiaozini, China, during the post-breeding Moult

The Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaea breeds in arctic and subarctic Russia and migrates to winter on coastal mudflats in south-east Asia. Its world population is probably about 700 individuals. We report Lincoln-Petersen closed-population estimates of the number of Spoon-billed Sandpipers at Tiaozini, a coastal site in Jiangsu Province, China, based upon resightings and scan surveys of individually-marked leg-flagged birds. Surveys were conducted in September-October, when adult Spoon-billed Sandpipers are moulting their primary feathers and long-distance movements are unlikely. We estimated that 220 birds were present at Tiaozini in 2017 and 224 in 2018. Nearly all of them were adults (one-year old or older), so about 40% of the world population of this age class was estimated to be present. Hence, protection of the mudflats and roost sites at Tiaozini is of global importance for the conservation of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper.Non

Isolation rearing impairs novel object recognition and attentional set shifting performance in female rats

YesIt has been suggested that the isolation rearing paradigm models certain aspects of schizophrenia symptomatology. This study aimed to investigate whether isolation rearing impairs rats’ performance in two models of cognition: the novel object recognition (NOR) and attentional set-shifting tasks, tests of episodic memory and executive function, respectively. Two cohorts of female Hooded-Lister rats were used in these experiments. Animals were housed in social isolation or in groups of five from weaning, post-natal day 28. The first cohort was tested in the NOR test with inter-trial intervals (ITIs) of 1 min up to 6 h. The second cohort was trained and tested in the attentional set-shifting task. In the NOR test, isolates were only able to discriminate between the novel and familiar objects up to 1-h ITI, whereas socially reared animals remembered the familiar object up to a 4-h ITI. In the attentional set-shifting task, isolates were significantly and selectively impaired in the extra-dimensional shift phase of the task (P < 0.01). Rats reared in isolation show impaired episodic memory in the NOR task and reduced ability to shift attention between stimulus dimensions in the attentional set-shifting task. Because schizophrenic patients show similar deficits in performance in these cognitive domains, these data further support isolation rearing as a putative preclinical model of the cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia

Assessing the Role of Computer Simulation in Chemistry Learning

Simulation and Computation make a versatile teaching strategy, and may be an important way to motivate students and lecturers to achieve meaningful learning. Indeed, this work refers to a study whose main objective is to set the influence that a teaching approach based on the use of computer simulation would have on students’ learning, compared to the one in use today. This work involved the participation of two classes of 11th grade at a Secondary School in Lisbon, Portugal, where the main goal is to teach a specific topic to an untried student’s group. With regard to the simulation environment, it will be grounded on a Proof Theoretical approach to Knowledge Representation and Reasoning, which caters for the handling of incomplete, unknown or even self-contradictory information or knowledge