Faced with exclusion: Perceived facial warmth and competence influence moral judgments of social exclusion

The current research investigates how facial appearance can act as a cue that guides observers' feelings and moral judgments about social exclusion episodes. In three studies, we manipulated facial portraits of allegedly ostracized persons to appear more or less warm and competent. Participants perceived it as least morally acceptable to exclude a person that appeared warm-and-incompetent. Moreover, participants perceived it as most acceptable to exclude a cold-and-incompetent looking person. In Study 2, we also varied the faces of the excluding group (i.e., the ostracizers). Results indicate that typical ostracizers are imagined as cold-and-incompetent looking. Study 3 suggests that the effect of a target's facial appearance on moral judgment is mediated by feelings of disgust. In sum, people's moral judgment about social exclusion can be influenced by facial appearance, which has many implications in intergroup research, such as for bystander intervention

Drying in the Middle East during Northern Hemisphere cold events of the early glacial period

Few paleoclimate records exist to assess the central Middle East’s response to natural forcing beyond the instrumental record. Here we present a multi-proxy stalagmite-based climate reconstruction from Iran’s semi-arid northeast that spans 100-70 thousand years before present(ka). During severe cold (stadial) events in the North Atlantic at ≈88, 77, and 73 ka, stalagmite trace-element data indicate anomalously dry periods at this location. Stadial event increases in the stalagmite oxygen isotopes mirror those in a published Iranian stalagmite 800 km to the west. A global climate model simulates drying across the Middle East region in response to stadial event forcing, in agreement with oxygen isotope enrichments in both Iranian records, caused by a smaller fractional loss of moisture on the trajectory upstream. The paleoproxies and model experiments are consistent in indicating a drier Middle East climate during the cold North Atlantic stadials

Slip-rate on the Main Köpetdag (Kopeh Dagh) strike-slip fault, Turkmenistan, and the active tectonics of the South Caspian

We provide the first measurement of strike-slip and shortening rates across the 200-km-long right-lateral strike-slip Main Köpetdag Fault (MKDF) in Turkmenistan. Strike-slip and shortening components are accommodated on parallel structures separated by ∼10 km. Using Infra-red-stimulated luminescence and reconstruction of offset alluvial fans we find a right-lateral rate of 9.1 ± 1.3 mm/yr averaged over 100 ± 5 ka, and a shortening rate of only ∼0.3 mm/yr averaged over 35 ± 4 ka across the frontal thrust, though additional shortening is likely to be accommodated locally by folding and faulting, and regionally within the eastern Caspian lowlands to its south. The MKDF is estimated to have ∼35 km of cumulative right-lateral slip which, if these geological measurements are correct, would accumulate in only 3–5 Ma at the rate we have determined, suggesting that the present tectonic configuration started within that time period. We use the MKDF slip-rate to form a velocity triangle, from which we estimate the Iran-South Caspian and Eurasia-South Caspian shortening rates, and show that the South Caspian Basin moves at 10.4 ± 1.1 mm/yr in direction 333° ± 5 relative to Eurasia and at 4.8 ± 0.8 mm/yr in direction 236° ± 14 relative to Iran. In contrast to both the eastern Köpetdag and the Caspian lowlands the MKDF has little recent or historical seismicity. The rapid slip-rate estimated here suggests that it is a zone of high earthquake hazard

Deep functional analysis of synII, a 770-kilobase synthetic yeast chromosome

INTRODUCTION Although much effort has been devoted to studying yeast in the past few decades, our understanding of this model organism is still limited. Rapidly developing DNA synthesis techniques have made a “build-to-understand” approach feasible to reengineer on the genome scale. Here, we report on the completion of a 770-kilobase synthetic yeast chromosome II (synII). SynII was characterized using extensive Trans-Omics tests. Despite considerable sequence alterations, synII is virtually indistinguishable from wild type. However, an up-regulation of translational machinery was observed and can be reversed by restoring the transfer RNA (tRNA) gene copy number. RATIONALE Following the “design-build-test-debug” working loop, synII was successfully designed and constructed in vivo. Extensive Trans-Omics tests were conducted, including phenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, chromosome segregation, and replication analyses. By both complementation assays and SCRaMbLE (synthetic chromosome rearrangement and modification by loxP -mediated evolution), we targeted and debugged the origin of a growth defect at 37°C in glycerol medium. RESULTS To efficiently construct megabase-long chromosomes, we developed an I- Sce I–mediated strategy, which enables parallel integration of synthetic chromosome arms and reduced the overall integration time by 50% for synII. An I- Sce I site is introduced for generating a double-strand break to promote targeted homologous recombination during mitotic growth. Despite hundreds of modifications introduced, there are still regions sharing substantial sequence similarity that might lead to undesirable meiotic recombinations when intercrossing the two semisynthetic chromosome arm strains. Induction of the I- Sce I–mediated double-strand break is otherwise lethal and thus introduced a strong selective pressure for targeted homologous recombination. Since our strategy is designed to generate a markerless synII and leave the URA3 marker on the wild-type chromosome, we observed a tenfold increase in URA3 -deficient colonies upon I- Sce I induction, meaning that our strategy can greatly bias the crossover events toward the designated regions. By incorporating comprehensive phenotyping approaches at multiple levels, we demonstrated that synII was capable of powering the growth of yeast indistinguishably from wild-type cells (see the figure), showing highly consistent biological processes comparable to the native strain. Meanwhile, we also noticed modest but potentially significant up-regulation of the translational machinery. The main alteration underlying this change in expression is the deletion of 13 tRNA genes. A growth defect was observed in one very specific condition—high temperature (37°C) in medium with glycerol as a carbon source—where colony size was reduced significantly. We targeted and debugged this defect by two distinct approaches. The first approach involved phenotype screening of all intermediate strains followed by a complementation assay with wild-type sequences in the synthetic strain. By doing so, we identified a modification resulting from PCRTag recoding in TSC10 , which is involved in regulation of the yeast high-osmolarity glycerol (HOG) response pathway. After replacement with wild-type TSC10 , the defect was greatly mitigated. The other approach, debugging by SCRaMbLE, showed rearrangements in regions containing HOG regulation genes. Both approaches indicated that the defect is related to HOG response dysregulation. Thus, the phenotypic defect can be pinpointed and debugged through multiple alternative routes in the complex cellular interactome network. CONCLUSION We have demonstrated that synII segregates, replicates, and functions in a highly similar fashion compared with its wild-type counterpart. Furthermore, we believe that the iterative “design-build-test-debug” cycle methodology, established here, will facilitate progression of the Sc2.0 project in the face of the increasing synthetic genome complexity. SynII characterization. ( A ) Cell cycle comparison between synII and BY4741 revealed by the percentage of cells with separated CEN2-GFP dots, metaphase spindles, and anaphase spindles. ( B ) Replication profiling of synII (red) and BY4741 (black) expressed as relative copy number by deep sequencing. ( C ) RNA sequencing analysis revealed that the significant up-regulation of translational machinery in synII is induced by the deletion of tRNA genes in synII. </jats:sec

Predicted Impact of COVID-19 on Neglected Tropical Disease Programs and the Opportunity for Innovation

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many key neglected tropical disease (NTD) activities have been postponed. This hindrance comes at a time when the NTDs are progressing towards their ambitious goals for 2030. Mathematical modelling on several NTDs, namely gambiense sleeping sickness, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiases (STH), trachoma, and visceral leishmaniasis, shows that the impact of this disruption will vary across the diseases. Programs face a risk of resurgence, which will be fastest in high-transmission areas. Furthermore, of the mass drug administration diseases, schistosomiasis, STH, and trachoma are likely to encounter faster resurgence. The case-finding diseases (gambiense sleeping sickness and visceral leishmaniasis) are likely to have fewer cases being detected but may face an increasing underlying rate of new infections. However, once programs are able to resume, there are ways to mitigate the impact and accelerate progress towards the 2030 goals.</p

National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic

Changing collective behaviour and supporting non-pharmaceutical interventions is an important component in mitigating virus transmission during a pandemic. In a large international collaboration (Study 1, N = 49,968 across 67 countries), we investigated self-reported factors associated with public health behaviours (e.g., spatial distancing and stricter hygiene) and endorsed public policy interventions (e.g., closing bars and restaurants) during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic (April-May 2020). Respondents who reported identifying more strongly with their nation consistently reported greater engagement in public health behaviours and support for public health policies. Results were similar for representative and non-representative national samples. Study 2 (N = 42 countries) conceptually replicated the central finding using aggregate indices of national identity (obtained using the World Values Survey) and a measure of actual behaviour change during the pandemic (obtained from Google mobility reports). Higher levels of national identification prior to the pandemic predicted lower mobility during the early stage of the pandemic (r = −0.40). We discuss the potential implications of links between national identity, leadership, and public health for managing COVID-19 and future pandemics.publishedVersio

Predicting attitudinal and behavioral responses to COVID-19 pandemic using machine learning

At the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 became a global problem. Despite all the efforts to emphasize the relevance of preventive measures, not everyone adhered to them. Thus, learning more about the characteristics determining attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic is crucial to improving future interventions. In this study, we applied machine learning on the multinational data collected by the International Collaboration on the Social and Moral Psychology of COVID-19 (N = 51,404) to test the predictive efficacy of constructs from social, moral, cognitive, and personality psychology, as well as socio-demographic factors, in the attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic. The results point to several valuable insights. Internalized moral identity provided the most consistent predictive contribution—individuals perceiving moral traits as central to their self-concept reported higher adherence to preventive measures. Similar results were found for morality as cooperation, symbolized moral identity, self-control, open-mindedness, and collective narcissism, while the inverse relationship was evident for the endorsement of conspiracy theories. However, we also found a non-neglible variability in the explained variance and predictive contributions with respect to macro-level factors such as the pandemic stage or cultural region. Overall, the results underscore the importance of morality-related and contextual factors in understanding adherence to public health recommendations during the pandemic.Peer reviewe

Design, construction, and functional characterization of a tRNA neochromosome in yeast

Here, we report the design, construction, and characterization of a tRNA neochromosome, a designer chromosome that functions as an additional, de novo counterpart to the native complement of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Intending to address one of the central design principles of the Sc2.0 project, the ∼190-kb tRNA neochromosome houses all 275 relocated nuclear tRNA genes. To maximize stability, the design incorporates orthogonal genetic elements from non-S. cerevisiae yeast species. Furthermore, the presence of 283 rox recombination sites enables an orthogonal tRNA SCRaMbLE system. Following construction in yeast, we obtained evidence of a potent selective force, manifesting as a spontaneous doubling in cell ploidy. Furthermore, tRNA sequencing, transcriptomics, proteomics, nucleosome mapping, replication profiling, FISH, and Hi-C were undertaken to investigate questions of tRNA neochromosome behavior and function. Its construction demonstrates the remarkable tractability of the yeast model and opens up opportunities to directly test hypotheses surrounding these essential non-coding RNAs