‘Distancers’ and ‘non-distancers’? The potential social psychological impact of moralizing COVID-19 mitigating practices on sustained behaviour change

COVID‐19 mitigating practices such as ‘hand‐washing’, ‘social distancing’, or ‘social isolating’ are constructed as ‘moral imperatives’, required to avert harm to oneself and others. Adherence to COVID‐19 mitigating practices is presently high among the general public, and stringent lockdown measures supported by legal and policy intervention have facilitated this. In the coming months, however, as rules are being relaxed and individuals become less strict, and thus, the ambiguity in policy increases, the maintenance of recommended social distancing norms will rely on more informal social interactional processes. We argue that the moralization of these practices, twinned with relaxations of policy, may likely cause interactional tension between those individuals who do vs. those who do not uphold social distancing in the coming months: that is, derogation of those who adhere strictly to COVID‐19 mitigating practices and group polarization between ‘distancers’ and ‘non‐distancers’. In this paper, we explore how and why these processes might come to pass, their impact on an overall societal response to COVID‐19, and the need to factor such processes into decisions regarding how to lift restriction

Having a lot of a good thing: multiple important group memberships as a source of self-esteem.

Copyright: © 2015 Jetten et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are creditedMembership in important social groups can promote a positive identity. We propose and test an identity resource model in which personal self-esteem is boosted by membership in additional important social groups. Belonging to multiple important group memberships predicts personal self-esteem in children (Study 1a), older adults (Study 1b), and former residents of a homeless shelter (Study 1c). Study 2 shows that the effects of multiple important group memberships on personal self-esteem are not reducible to number of interpersonal ties. Studies 3a and 3b provide longitudinal evidence that multiple important group memberships predict personal self-esteem over time. Studies 4 and 5 show that collective self-esteem mediates this effect, suggesting that membership in multiple important groups boosts personal self-esteem because people take pride in, and derive meaning from, important group memberships. Discussion focuses on when and why important group memberships act as a social resource that fuels personal self-esteem.This study was supported by 1. Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT110100238) awarded to Jolanda Jetten (see http://www.arc.gov.au) 2. Australian Research Council Linkage Grant (LP110200437) to Jolanda Jetten and Genevieve Dingle (see http://www.arc.gov.au) 3. support from the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Social Interactions, Identity and Well-Being Program to Nyla Branscombe, S. Alexander Haslam, and Catherine Haslam (see http://www.cifar.ca)

When group members admit to being conformist: the role of relative intragroup status in conformity self-reports

Authors' draft; final version published in Personality and Social Psychology BulletinFive studies examined the hypothesis that people will strategically portray the self as being more group influenced the more junior they feel within the group. Among social psychologists (Study 1), ratings of self-conformity by group members were greater when the status of the participant was low than when it was high. These effects were replicated in Studies 2, 3, and 4 in which relative intragroup status was manipulated. In Study 3, the authors found junior group members described themselves as more conformist than senior members when they were addressing an ingroup audience, but when they were addressing an outgroup audience the effect disappeared. Furthermore, junior members (but not senior members) rated themselves as more conformist when they were led to believe their responses were public than when responses were private (Study 5). The discussion focuses on the strategic processes underlying low-status group members’ self-reports of group influence and the functional role of conformity in groups

Interactions of anaerobic ammonium oxidizers and sulfide-oxidizing bacteria in a substrate-limited model system mimicking the marine environment

In nature anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) and denitrification processes convert fixed nitrogen to gaseous nitrogen compounds, which are then released to the atmosphere. While anammox bacteria produce N2 from ammonium and nitrite, in the denitrification process nitrate and nitrite are converted to N2 and the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O). Furthermore, nitrite needed by the anammox bacteria can be supplied by nitrate reduction to nitrite. Consequently, the interplay between nitrogen-transforming microorganisms control the amount of harmless N2 or the greenhouse gas N2O released to the atmosphere. Therefore, it is important to understand the interactions of these microorganisms in the natural environment, where dynamic conditions result in fluctuating substrate concentrations. Here, we studied the interactions between the sulfide-oxidizing denitrifier Sedimenticola selenatireducens and the anammox bacterium Scalindua brodae in a bioreactor mimicking the marine environment by creating sulfide, ammonium and nitrate limitation in distinct operational phases. Through a microbial interaction, Se. selenatireducens reduced nitrate to nitrite, which together with the supplied ammonium was converted to N2 by Sc. Brodae. Using comparative transcriptomics, we determined that Sc. Brodae and Se. selenatireducens had significant responses to ammonium and nitrate limitation, respectively, indicating that the activities of these microorganisms are regulated by different nitrogen compounds

Оцінювання за зашумленними спостереженнями невідомих даних лінійних еліптичних рівнянь, що допускають змішане варіаційне формулювання

Получен новый класс систем вариационных уравнений через решения которых выражаются минимаксные оценки значений функционалов от неизвестных правых частей линейных эллиптических уравнений 2-го порядка.Одержаний новий клас систем варіаційних рівнянь через розв'язки яких виражаються мінімаксні оцінки значень функционалів від невідомих правих частин лінійних еліптичних рівнянь 2-го порядку.We obtain a new class of systems of variational equations via whose solutions the minimax estimates of values of functionals from unknown right-hand sides of the second order linear elliptic equations are expressed

Potential impact of global climate change on malaria risk.

The biological activity and geographic distribution of the malarial parasite and its vector are sensitive to climatic influences, especially temperature and precipitation. We have incorporated General Circulation Model-based scenarios of anthropogenic global climate change in an integrated linked-system model for predicting changes in malaria epidemic potential in the next century. The concept of the disability-adjusted life years is included to arrive at a single measure of the effect of anthropogenic climate change on the health impact of malaria. Assessment of the potential impact of global climate change on the incidence of malaria suggests a widespread increase of risk due to expansion of the areas suitable for malaria transmission. This predicted increase is most pronounced at the borders of endemic malaria areas and at higher altitudes within malarial areas. The incidence of infection is sensitive to climate changes in areas of Southeast Asia, South America, and parts of Africa where the disease is less endemic; in these regions the numbers of years of healthy life lost may increase significantly. However, the simulated changes in malaria risk must be interpreted on the basis of local environmental conditions, the effects of socioeconomic developments, and malaria control programs or capabilities

Do I-Pass for FAIR?:A self-assessment tool to measure the FAIR-ness of an organization

The 15 FAIR data principles are intended to be applied to a dataset, but the acronym FAIR is also used as an adjective for other (digital) matters, such as FAIR data stewardship, FAIR data infrastructure and FAIR data services. Moreover, in the context of Open Science and scientific integrity, more and more Dutch universities and research organizations discuss a FAIR organization as an important goal, thus implementing RDM practices and support with the FAIR principles as a main driver. Triggered by this use of the acronym FAIR for organizations, an LCRDM (National Coordination Point Research Data Management) task group explored the definition, characteristics and principles of a so-called ‘FAIR enabling organization’. The task group delivered two products: (1) a definition for a FAIR enabling organization and (2) a self-assessment tool to evaluate the FAIR-ness of a research organization (research institute, university or university of applied sciences). This self-assessment tool is a simple instrument, presented in an editable PDF form. By answering the questions and evaluating the level (beginner, intermediate, or advanced) at which you assess the performance of your organization, you will be able to define the actual FAIR-ness. In addition you can define a Road Map to become a FAIR Enabling Research Organization using the information in de more advances level(s)

Complete Genome Sequence of the Aerobic Facultative Methanotroph Methylocella tundrae Strain T4

Methylocella tundrae T4T is a facultative aerobic methanotroph which was isolated from an acidic tundra wetland and possesses only a soluble methane monooxygenase. The complete genome, which includes two megaplasmids, was sequenced using a combination of Illumina and Nanopore technologies. One of the megaplasmids carries a propane monooxygenase gene cluster

Draft genome of a novel methanotrophic Methylobacter sp. from the volcanic soils of Pantelleria Island

The genus Methylobacter is considered an important and often dominant group of aerobic methane-oxidizing bacteria in many oxic ecosystems, where members of this genus contribute to the reduction of CH4 emissions. Metagenomic studies of the upper oxic layers of geothermal soils of the Favara Grande, Pantelleria, Italy, revealed the presence of various methane-oxidizing bacteria, and resulted in a near complete metagenome assembled genome (MAG) of an aerobic methanotroph, which was classified as a Methylobacter species. In this study, the Methylobacter sp. B2 MAG was used to investigate its metabolic potential and phylogenetic affiliation. The MAG has a size of 4,086,539 bp, consists of 134 contigs and 3955 genes were found, of which 3902 were protein coding genes. All genes for CH4 oxidation to CO2 were detected, including pmoCAB encoding particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO) and xoxF encoding a methanol dehydrogenase. No gene encoding a formaldehyde dehydrogenase was present and the formaldehyde to formate conversion follows the tetrahydromethanopterin (H4MPT) pathway. “Ca. Methylobacter favarea” B2 uses the Ribulose-Mono-Phosphate (RuMP) pathway for carbon fixation. Analysis of the MAG indicates that Na+/H+ antiporters and the urease system might be important in the maintenance of pH homeostasis of this strain to cope with acidic conditions. So far, thermoacidophilic Methylobacter species have not been isolated, however this study indicates that members of the genus Methylobacter can be found in distinct ecosystems and their presence is not restricted to freshwater or marine sediments

Social identity, social networks and recovery capital in emerging adulthood: a pilot study

Background It has been argued that recovery from substance dependence relies on a change in identity, with past research focused on ‘personal identity’. This study assessed support for a social identity model of recovery in emerging adults through examining associations between social identity, social networks, recovery capital, and quality of life. Methods Twenty participants aged 18–21 in residential treatment for substance misuse were recruited from four specialist youth drug treatment services - three detoxification facilities and one psychosocial rehabilitation facility in Victoria, Australia. Participants completed a detailed social network interview exploring the substance use of groups in their social networks and measures of quality of life, recovery capital, and social identity. Results Lower group substance use was associated with higher recovery capital, stronger identification with non-using groups, and greater importance of non-using groups in the social network. Additionally, greater identification with and importance of non-using groups were associated with better environmental quality of life, whereas greater importance conferred on using groups was associated with reduced environmental quality of life. Conclusions Support was found for the role of social identity processes in reported recovery capital and quality of life. Future research in larger, longitudinal samples is required to improve understanding of social identity processes during treatment and early recovery and its relationship to recovery stability. Keywords Social network Social identity Emerging adult Substance use Treatment Recovery Quality of lif