Structural Relations Among Spirituality,Religiosity, and Thriving in Adolescence

Using the randomly selected subsample of 1,000 youth (472 boys, M age = 12.2 years, SD = 1.5; 528 girls, M age = 12.1 years, SD = 1.4) drawn by Dowling, Getsdottir, Anderson, von Eye, and Lerner (in press) from a Search Institute (1984) archival data set, Young Adolescents and Their Parents (YAP), this research employed structural equation modeling procedures to appraise the structural relations among second-order factors of religiosity, spirituality, and thriving. Three hierarchically related models were tested: The first model was a complete mediation model that involved a direct effect of spirituality on thriving and an indirect effect of spirituality on thriving, mediated by religiosity, the second model only consisted of the mediated effect, and the third model only consisted of the direct effects of spirituality on thriving and religiosity on thriving. Consistent with expectations, the complete mediation model provided reasonably good fit to the data and was significantly better than either of the alternative models. The importance of the findings reported here for the future study of youth thriving using either the YAP data set or new, longitudinal studies is discussed.     

鸟类惊飞距离及其影响因素

惊飞距离(FID)是指捕食者(包括人类)接近目标个体并导致其逃避时,捕食者与目标个体之间的距离。惊飞距离能很好地衡量动物个体在特定环境下的恐惧反应和风险权衡,是研究动物逃避行为的常用指标,并为物种保护提供科学依据。鸟类是研究逃避行为的理想对象,本文综述了影响鸟类惊飞距离的各种因素,可分为3类:栖息地因素(距隐蔽处的距离和生境开阔度等)、鸟类自身因素(生活史、体型和群体大小等)以及与捕食者相关的因素(捕食者的接近方向和速度等)。城市化也会影响鸟类的惊飞距离,导致城市中的鸟类通常比乡村生境的同种鸟类拥有更短的惊飞距离。习惯化、适应和生境选择是解释惊飞距离城乡差异的3种假说。研究鸟类的惊飞距离及其影响因素,有助于理解鸟类的逃避行为及其风险权衡机制,为物种保护中设立合理的缓冲区域及制定有效的保护管理措施提供科学依据。目前国内有关鸟类惊飞距离的研究多为行为观察和单一因素的影响,有待从不同因素的交互作用角度探讨鸟类的逃避行为并用于物种保护。     

Women's Representation in 60 Occupations from 1972 to 2010: More Women in High-Status Jobs,Few Women in Things-Oriented Jobs

To explore factors associated with occupational sex segregation in the United States over the past four decades, we analyzed U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data for the percent of women employed in 60 varied occupations from 1972 to 2010. Occupations were assessed on status, people-things orientation, and data-ideas orientation. Multilevel linear modeling (MLM) analyses showed that women increasingly entered high-status occupations from 1972 to 2010, but women''s participation in things-oriented occupations (e.g., STEM fields and mechanical and construction trades) remained low and relatively stable. Occupations'' data-ideas orientation was not consistently related to sex segregation. Because of women''s increased participation in high-status occupations, occupational status became an increasingly weak predictor of women''s participation rates in occupations, whereas occupations'' people-things orientation became an increasingly strong predictor over time. These findings are discussed in relation to theories of occupational sex segregation and social policies to reduce occupational sex segregation.     

Religiosity and Support for Killing Animals: Evidence of a Curvilinear Relationship

ABSTRACT

Prior research shows that the correlation between religiosity and support for animal rights can be positive, negative, or zero. We hypothesized that this relationship may actually be curvilinear, where a moderate degree of religiosity may reduce support for killing animals (compared with non-religiosity or atheism), but a very high degree of religiosity (e.g., fundamentalism) might increase support for killing animals. We tested this hypothesis in a large sample of American undergraduate students, using a correlational study design with self-report measures of religiosity and of support for killing animals in different domains. The results indicated that, in support of our hypothesis, the relationship between religiosity and support for killing animals is curvilinear, as moderate levels of religiosity were related to less support for killing animals. People who were either not religious at all or very religious were the ones who most supported the killing of animals. Belief in God in itself was related to less support for killing animals. We then replicated the curvilinear relationship between religiosity and support for killing animals using data from four experiments from a previously published article on support for killing animals. We briefly consider possible explanations for these findings, the limitations of the study, and propose directions for future research. Overall, we believe that this study helps clarify the complex relationship between religiosity and support for killing animals, and advances the scientific understanding of the psychological forces that motivate people to support or object to the killing of animals.     

What��s the Matter with Kansas?: The Development and Confirmation of the Evolutionary Attitudes and Literacy Survey (EALS)

The present survey was designed to assess predominant regional belief systems and the roles these beliefs play in science understanding and attitudes, and curricular effectiveness in colleges and universities. To this end, we created a wide variety of theory-driven subscales (lower order factors) reflecting, for example, exposure to evolutionary material, young earth creationist beliefs, moral and social objections, political ideology, endorsement of intelligent design fallacies, knowledge (and distrust) of the scientific enterprise, and attitudes of evolutionary theory’s relevance in several domains (e.g., sciences and humanities). We also included potentially important demographic variables (e.g., rural upbringing, family size). Finally, we assessed openness to experience, a key facet of personality. Hierarchical Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis showed the 16 constructs to have a theoretically meaningful and quantitatively coherent higher order factor structure. In this large Kansas sample of university students, creationist reasoning and conservative orientation (political and religious) were negatively associated with exposure to evolutionary theory, knowledge about it, and positive attitudes toward its relevance. At the same time, exposure to the theory was positively associated with knowledge and positive attitudes. Importantly, though most Kansas-specific demographic variables (e.g., rural origins) were largely unrelated to outcomes of interest in this university-based sample, the personality factor openness to experience appears to be highly relevant for several higher order factors (e.g., exposure, knowledge and relevance, and creationist reasoning). We close with implications for educators and the next steps in survey development.     

Correlates between calcaneal morphology and locomotion in extant and extinct carnivorous mammals

Locomotor mode is an important component of an animal's ecology, relating to both habitat and substrate choice (e.g., arboreal versus terrestrial) and in the case of carnivores, to mode of predation (e.g., ambush versus pursuit). Here, we examine how the morphology of the calcaneum, the ‘heel bone’ in the tarsus, correlates with locomotion in extant carnivores. Other studies have confirmed the correlation of calcaneal morphology with locomotion behaviour and habitat. The robust nature of the calcaneum means that it is frequently preserved in the fossil record. Here, we employ linear measurements and 2D‐geometric morphometrics on a sample of calcanea from eighty‐seven extant carnivorans and demonstrate a signal of correlation between calcaneal morphology and locomotor mode that overrides phylogeny. We used this correlation to determine the locomotor mode, and hence aspects of the palaeobiology of, 47 extinct carnivorous mammal taxa, including both Carnivora and Creodonta. We found ursids (bears), clustered together, separate from the other carnivorans. Our results support greater locomotor diversity for nimravids (the extinct ‘false sabertooths’, usually considered to be more arboreal), than previously expected. However, there are limitations to interpretation of extinct taxa because their robust morphology is not fully captured in the range of modern carnivoran morphology.     

Rhesus Factor Modulation of Effects of Smoking and Age on Psychomotor Performance,Intelligence, Personality Profile,and Health in Czech Soldiers

Background

Rhesus-positive and rhesus-negative persons differ in the presence-absence of highly immunogenic RhD protein on the erythrocyte membrane. This protein is a component of NH₃ or CO₂ pump whose physiological role is unknown. Several recent studies have shown that RhD positivity protects against effects of latent toxoplasmosis on motor performance and personality. It is not known, however, whether the RhD phenotype modifies exclusively the response of the body to toxoplasmosis or whether it also influences effects of other factors.

Methodology/Principal Findings

In the present cohort study, we searched for the effects of age and smoking on performance, intelligence, personality and self-estimated health and wellness in about 3800 draftees. We found that the positive effect of age on performance and intelligence was stronger in RhD-positive soldiers, while the negative effect of smoking on performance and intelligence was of similar size regardless of the RhD phenotype. The effect of age on four Cattell''s personality factors, i.e., dominance (E), radicalism (Q₁), self-sentiment integration (Q₃), and ergic tension (Q₄), and on Cloninger''s factor reward dependency (RD) was stronger for RhD-negative than RhD-positive subjects, while the effect of smoking on the number of viral and bacterial diseases was about three times stronger for RhD-negative than RhD-positive subjects.

Conclusions

RhD phenotype modulates the influence not only of latent toxoplasmosis, but also of at least two other potentially detrimental factors, age and smoking, on human behavior and physiology. The negative effect of smoking on health (estimated on the basis of the self-rated number of common viral and bacterial diseases in the past year) was much stronger in RhD-negative than RhD-positive subjects. It is critically needed to confirm the differences in health response to smoking between RhD-positive and RhD-negative subjects by objective medical examination in future studies.     

What are the primary covariates of environmental attitudes and behaviours in Canada? A national-scale analysis of socioeconomic,political, and demographic factors

There is considerable ambiguity around the importance of demographic and socio-economic characteristics that catalyze pro-environmental behaviours. These factors are typically deemed responsible for environmental skepticism, such as the degree of trust in social institutions, fundamental views of the individuals (e.g., religiosity and political ideology), and competing priorities. In this context, the present study analyzed a comprehensive dataset of survey responses to discern the most reliable predictors of environmental attitudes of Canadians related to activism, lifestyle, household practices on air quality, waste disposal, energy and water conservation. To achieve this objective, we capitalize upon the wealth of publicly available data from surveys conducted by Statistics Canada's Households and the Environment Survey. Our analysis suggests that individuals with university-level education and higher income or families with children generally display pro-environmental behaviours. Political conservatism, as expressed by the percentage vote for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in a given area, appears to covary with some facets of the documented reluctance to embrace environmentally aligned behaviours (i.e., climate change issues), although we did not find a major “conservative-versus-liberal” divide about the broader spectrum of environmental issues. Our assessment of environmental attitudes in different Canadian provinces suggests an aptitude for more sustainable living in Ontario and British Columbia. Our analysis also provides evidence that the intent to support efforts that reduce emissions from burning fossil fuels or promote clean energy and technology – which has been overwhelmingly communicated in recent national polls – is not necessarily actualized. This established trend of Canadians failing to “walk the talk” and materialize their stated commitment with tangible participation into environmentally supportive behaviours could stem from barriers imposed at the household and societal levels. Notwithstanding the uncertainty regarding the importance of different socio-demographic factors in shaping our predisposition and behaviour towards environmental issues, the findings of our study offer a working model that could allow addressing the roots of environmental skepticism, promote societal trust, and revisit the role of ecopolitics in the social agenda.     

动物生殖抑制研究进展：理论模型、方式和机制

生殖抑制指原本具有生育能力的动物个体因特定外界环境或生理条件而减少或丧失生殖能力的现象,有时是受环境变化的主动调控,更多的是出现在其他个体影响下的被动抑制,极端情况发生在社会性动物的永久性抑制,即永久无法生殖或无法生殖成熟。研究发现非社会性动物也有生殖的推迟及可恢复性的生殖抑制,生殖抑制影响着动物种群数量动态、维持和进化。随着多学科的发展,生殖抑制机理研究取得了诸多进展。从阐述生殖抑制的概念出发,解析生殖抑制的形态、激素和分子生理特征,总结了生殖抑制的原因、作用,终述现有的理论模型以及不同物种方面的最新进展,并就生殖抑制在生物资源管理方面的应用价值进行了展望,旨在丰富生殖抑制的理论,扩展应用实践,为后续的生物资源管理提供理论参考。     

Scalp hair-whorl orientation of Japanese individuals is random; hence,the trait's distribution is not genetically determined

Because the features of clockwise versus anti-clockwise orientation of hair-whorl coiling developed on a person's scalp is (partially, albeit significantly) correlated with that individual's right- versus left-hand-use preference (i.e., handedness) in the US and British subjects, these traits have been recently suggested to be determined biologically and through a common genetic mechanism. Here I report results of a serendipitously made observation with the Japanese population that helps to scrutinize validity of partial correlation between these attributes and to ascertain whether the underlying gene's frequency variations exist in different gene pools. Surprisingly, the whorl orientation in the Japanese individuals was found to be random, although their handedness variation is similar to that of the US population. Therefore, the whorl orientation trait is not genetically determined in the Japanese population. This result supports the idea that separate decisions must be made during embryogenesis for developing handedness and hair-whorl features at least in Japanese individuals. A recent study found the lack of association between whorl orientation and handedness in the German population, yet previous studies suggested that their scalp hair orientation is genetically determined. Therefore, pronounced genetic variation for the hair-whorl trait exists between individuals of different geographical regions. As hand preference exhibits “complex correlation” with brain hemispheric functional specialization, implications of these findings are discussed here with the goal to define biology of brain hemispheric laterality determination.     

At the crossroads of conspicuous and concealable: what race categories communicate about sexual orientation

We found that judgments of a perceptually ambiguous social category, sexual orientation, varied as a function of a perceptually obvious social category, race. Sexual orientation judgments tend to exploit a heuristic of gender inversion that often promotes accuracy. We predicted that an orthogonal social category that is itself gendered, race, would impact both sexual orientation categorizations and their accuracy. Importantly, overlaps in both the phenotypes and stereotypes associated with specific race and sex categories (e.g., the categories Black and Men and the categories Asian and Women) lead race categories to be decidedly gendered. Therefore, we reasoned that race categories would bias judgments of sexual orientation and their accuracy because of the inherent gendered nature. Indeed, both gay and straight perceivers in the United States were more likely to judge targets to be gay when target race was associated with gender-atypical stereotypes or phenotypes (e.g., Asian Men). Perceivers were also most accurate when judging the sexual orientation of the most strongly gender-stereotyped groups (i.e., Asian Women and Black Men), but least accurate when judging the sexual orientation of counter-stereotypical groups (i.e., Asian men and Black Women). Signal detection analyses confirmed that this pattern of accuracy was achieved because of heightened sensitivity to cues in groups who more naturally conform to gendered stereotypes (Asian Women and Black Men). Implications for social perception are discussed.     

Spiritual and religious beliefs: do they matter in the medication adherence behaviour of hypertensive patients?

Background

Medication non-adherence is often a predominant problem in the management of hypertension and other chronic conditions. In explaining health behaviours, social determinants like spirituality and religiosity are increasingly identified to impact health and treatment. Although a number of researchers have found spirituality and religiosity to be primary resources among persons dealing with chronic disability and illness, studies relating this specifically to medication adherence have been limited.

Methods

Our study sought to examine the interrelationship between spirituality/ religiosity and medication adherence among 400 hypertensive patients 18 years old and above. Spiritual Perspective Scale, Duke Religion Index, and the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale were used to determine spirituality, religiosity and medication adherence respectively.

Results

The majority (93.25%) of patients poorly adhered to their medications. While high spiritual and religious beliefs formed core components of the lifestyles of patients, spirituality (p?=?0.018) and not religiosity (p?=?0.474) related directly with medication non-adherence. Likewise, after controlling for demography and other medical co-morbidities, patients with high spirituality were 2.68 times more likely to be poorly adherent than patients who place lower emphasis on the association between spirituality and health.

Conclusion

Our study suggests that while spirituality/ religiosity was dominant among hypertensive patients, these spiritual attachments of patients with a supreme being potentially increased their trust in the expectation of divine healing instead of adhering adequately with their anti-hypertensive medications.

     

植物功能性状与环境和生态系统功能

植物性状反映了植物对生长环境的响应和适应,将环境、植物个体和生态系统结构、过程与功能联系起来(所谓的“植物功能性状”)。该文介绍了植物功能性状的分类体系,综述了国内外植物功能性状与气候(包括气温、降水、光照)、地理空间变异(包括地形地貌、生态梯度、海拔)、营养、干扰(包括火灾、放牧、生物入侵、土地利用)等环境因素,以及与生态系统功能之间关系的研究进展,探讨了全球变化(气候变化和CO₂浓度升高)对个体和群落植物功能性状的影响。植物功能性状的研究已经取得很多成果,并应用于全球变化、古植被恢复和古气候定量重建、环境监测与评价、生态保护和恢复等研究中,但大尺度、多生境因子下的植物功能性状研究仍有待于加强,同时需要改进性状的测量手段;我国的植物功能性状研究还需要更加明朗化和系统化。     

A Global and Spatially Explicit Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on Crop Production and Consumptive Water Use

Food security and water scarcity have become two major concerns for future human''s sustainable development, particularly in the context of climate change. Here we present a comprehensive assessment of climate change impacts on the production and water use of major cereal crops on a global scale with a spatial resolution of 30 arc-minutes for the 2030s (short term) and the 2090s (long term), respectively. Our findings show that impact uncertainties are higher on larger spatial scales (e.g., global and continental) but lower on smaller spatial scales (e.g., national and grid cell). Such patterns allow decision makers and investors to take adaptive measures without being puzzled by a highly uncertain future at the global level. Short-term gains in crop production from climate change are projected for many regions, particularly in African countries, but the gains will mostly vanish and turn to losses in the long run. Irrigation dependence in crop production is projected to increase in general. However, several water poor regions will rely less heavily on irrigation, conducive to alleviating regional water scarcity. The heterogeneity of spatial patterns and the non-linearity of temporal changes of the impacts call for site-specific adaptive measures with perspectives of reducing short- and long-term risks of future food and water security.     

Texas Latino College Student Attitudes Toward Natural Resources and the Environment

Abstract: Latinos in the United States are an increasing segment of the population and are becoming important stakeholders in the management of natural resources. Although Latinos have been included in attitudinal research on environmental concerns, few studies have focused exclusively on Latino attitudes toward natural resources and the environment. We surveyed Texas college and university students of Mexican descent (n = 635) to determine their environmental concerns. Using the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP), we determined an environmental concern score for each respondent and compared this index to several demographic variables. We found that gender, a political candidate's environmental position, mother's education, combined parental income, and, to a lesser degree, the number of grandparents born in the United States and religiosity (church attendance), were important model variables. We hypothesized that acculturation would be an important factor in predicting NEP scores; however, acculturation level was not an important predictor in our study, which we attribute to both the nature of our sample (i.e., highly acculturated college students) and small sample sizes of less-acculturated college students. We recommend that future research consider determining the importance of acculturation in Latino attitudes toward natural resources and the environment.     

A Theoretical and Empirical Examination of Identity as Coping: Linking Coping Resources to the Self Processes of African American Youth

Spencer's (1995) Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory is presented as a theoretical framework to integrate issues of context, coping, and identity in human development. The relation of coping supports (i.e., cultural socialization and spirituality) to psychological well-being was investigated for a sample of low resource African American youth. Results suggest that employment of religion and spirituality and cultural pride as a form of coping is important in the development of a healthy sense of self and a healthy sense of self in relation to others, especially among Black adolescent boys. The finding was not replicated among girls, suggesting the need to investigate other forms of support.     

Development and Implementation of the National Cancer Institute’s Food Attitudes and Behaviors Survey to Assess Correlates of Fruit and Vegetable Intake in Adults

BackgroundLow fruit and vegetable (FV) intake is a leading risk factor for chronic disease globally as well as in the United States. Much of the population does not consume the recommended servings of FV daily. This paper describes the development of psychosocial measures of FV intake for inclusion in the U.S. National Cancer Institute’s 2007 Food Attitudes and Behaviors Survey.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study among 3,397 adults from the United States.Scales included conventional constructs shown to be correlated with fruit and vegetable intake (FVI) in prior studies (e.g., self-efficacy, social support), and novel constructs that have been measured in few- to- no studies (e.g., views on vegetarianism, neophobia). FVI was assessed with an eight-item screener. Exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach’s alpha, and regression analyses were conducted.ResultsPsychosocial scales with Cronbach’s alpha ≥0.68 were self-efficacy, social support, perceived barriers and benefits of eating FVs, views on vegetarianism, autonomous and controlled motivation, and preference for FVs. Conventional scales that were associated (p<0.05) with FVI were self-efficacy, social support, and perceived barriers to eating FVs. Novel scales that were associated (p<0.05) with FVI were autonomous motivation, and preference for vegetables. Other single items that were associated (p<0.05) with FVI included knowledge of FV recommendations, FVI “while growing up”, and daily water consumption.ConclusionThese findings may inform future behavioral interventions as well as further exploration of other potential factors to promote and support FVI.     

Peptides and aging: Their role in anorexia and memory

The rapid aging of the world's population has led to a need to increase our understanding of the pathophysiology of the factors leading to frailty and cognitive decline. Peptides have been shown to be involved in the pathophysiology of frailty and cognitive decline. Weight loss is a major component of frailty. In this review, we demonstrate a central role for both peripheral peptides (e.g., cholecystokinin and ghrelin) and neuropeptides (e.g., dynorphin and alpha-MSH) in the pathophysiology of the anorexia of aging. Similarly, peripheral peptides (e.g., ghrelin, glucagon-like peptide 1, and cholecystokinin) are modulators of memory. A number of centrally acting neuropeptides have also been shown to modulate cognitive processes. Amyloid-beta peptide in physiological levels is a memory enhancer, while in high (pathological) levels, it plays a key role in the development of Alzheimer's disease.