Rapid detection of social interactions is the result of domain general attentional processes

Using visual search displays of interacting and non-interacting pairs, it has been demonstrated that detection of social interactions is facilitated. For example, two people facing each other are found faster than two people with their backs turned: an effect that may reflect social binding. However, recent work has shown the same effects with non-social arrow stimuli, where towards facing arrows are detected faster than away facing arrows. This latter work suggests a primary mechanism is an attention orienting process driven by basic low-level direction cues. However, evidence for lower level attentional processes does not preclude a potential additional role of higher-level social processes. Therefore, in this series of experiments we test this idea further by directly comparing basic visual features that orient attention with representations of socially interacting individuals. Results confirm the potency of orienting of attention via low-level visual features in the detection of interacting objects. In contrast, there is little evidence for the representation of social interactions influencing initial search performance.

Sharing goals by timely communication improves fishermen's satisfaction with marine protected areas: A case study in the Mediterranean

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are considered as a valid tool for mitigating the impact of fishing on marine ecosystems. Their success depends upon their acceptance by implicated stakeholders and on the integration of the stakeholder groups into their management. This integration is especially important with regard to fishermen, whose interests are the most directly affected by MPAs. The relational coordination method posits that effective communication and supportive relationships among stakeholders result in positive stakeholder behaviors and a more effective management of the system. Applying its principles, we designed a survey to evaluate the satisfaction of fishermen associated with five MPAs in the Spanish Mediterranean and determine what mechanisms affect fishermen’s acceptance of MPAs. Our results demonstrate that effective communication is particularly important for good supportive relationships and satisfaction among fishermen and other stakeholder groups, as well as satisfaction with the MPA. Sharing objectives with fishermen through timely communication is the primary mechanism to improve fishermen's satisfaction and ameliorate perceptions towards MPA. To address this issue, we recommend more substantial integration of fishermen in the co-management of MPAs.

How Is Watching Done?

The process of surveillance has changed over time, as the object of surveillance—the narratives—have evolved. The primary mechanism of surveillance involved studying the analog body by watching the activities that the body performed. As such, the visual process, using cameras of different capabilities, has been a key way for watching. With the increasing digitization, the watching has relied on methods that capture the data about institutions and people.

Non-toxigenic Vibrio cholerae challenge strains for evaluating vaccine efficacy and inferring mechanisms of protection

Human challenge studies are instrumental for testing cholera vaccines, but these studies use outdated strains and require inpatient facilities. Here, we created next-generation isogenic Ogawa and Inaba V. cholerae challenge strains (ZChol strains) derived from a contemporary Zambian clinical isolate representative of current dominant pandemic V. cholerae. To minimize the risk of severe diarrhea these strains were rendered non-toxigenic, since antibody responses which limit V. cholerae colonization are the primary mechanism of immune protection. These strains did not cause diarrhea in infant mice and proved to accurately gauge reduction in intestinal colonization mediated by effective vaccination. They are also valuable as targets for measuring vibriocidal antibody responses. Using barcoded ZChol strains, we discovered that vaccination tightens the infection bottleneck without restricting pathogen expansion in vivo. ZChol strains have the potential to enhance the safety, relevance, and scope of future cholera vaccine challenge studies and be valuable reagents for studies of immunity to cholera.

What Is the Mechanism Underlying the Interleaving Effect in Category Induction: An Eye-Tracking and Behavioral Study

Interleaved practice (i.e., exemplars from different categories are intermixed within blocks) has been shown to enhance induction performance compared to blocked practice (i.e., exemplars from the same category are presented sequentially). The main aim of the present study was to examine explanations of why interleaved practice produces this benefit in category induction (known as the interleaving effect). We also evaluated two hypotheses, the attention attenuation hypothesis and the discriminative-contrast hypothesis, by collecting data on participants’ fixation on exemplars, provided by eye-tracking data, and manipulating the degree of discriminative-contrast. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants were instructed to learn the style of 12 new artists in blocked and interleaved practice in fixed-paced and self-paced learning conditions, respectively. We examined fixation durations for six positions (temporal sequence of exemplars presented in each block) using eye-tracking. The results of the two experiments, based on eye-tracking data, suggested that attention attenuation may not be the primary mechanism underlying the interleaving effect in category induction. In Experiment 3, we manipulated the degree of discriminative-contrast to examine the impact on the interleaving effect in category induction. The results showed that the main effect of the degree of discriminative-contrast was significant, and performance in the high-contrast condition was significantly better than those in the medium-contrast and low-contrast conditions. Thus, the current results support the discriminative-contrast hypothesis rather than the attention attenuation hypothesis.

Effects of Silicic Acid on Leaching Behavior of Arsenic from Spent Calcium-Based Adsorbents with Arsenite

The spent adsorbents that remain after being used to purify As-contaminated water constitute waste containing a large amount of As. These spent adsorbents, after being disposed, are likely to come into contact with silicic acid leached from the soil or cementitious solidification materials. Thus, it is crucial the evaluate the effects of silicic acid on spent adsorbents. In this study, the effects of silicic acid on spent Ca-based (CaO and Ca(OH)2) adsorbents with arsenite were investigated. The As leaching ratio for the spent adsorbents decreased with an increase in the initial concentration of silicic acid in the liquid. Under the tested conditions, the As leaching ratio decreased from 8–9% to less than 0.7% in the presence of silicic acid at an initial Si-normalized concentration of 100 mg/L. The primary mechanism behind the inhibition of As leaching by silicic acid was determined to be re-immobilization via the incorporation of arsenite during the formation of calcium silicates. In the presence of silicic acid, spent Ca-based adsorbents with arsenite had a lower As leaching ratio than those with arsenate. Therefore, spent Ca-based adsorbents with arsenite were found to have a higher environmental stability than those with arsenate.

Swimming with or Against the Tide: Has the International Labour Organisation Been Co-Opted by Neoliberal Hegemony

<p>Work is one, if not the, primary mechanism through which the majority of the world's population experience economic globalisation. Work is intimately connected to matters of human rights, social equality, welfare, and class struggle and it is increasingly determined by activities that occur in the international and transnational levels. Neoliberal globalisation has fundamentally restructured the world of work. It has also undermined the social democratic worldview of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on which the global governance portfolio for labour most squarely falls. The ILO's current Director General Juan Somavia, in referring to this era of neoliberal hegemony, has said that "the ILO has often been swimming against the tide". This thesis undertakes a thorough examination of Somavia's statement in order to determine the extent to which the neoliberal tide has saturated the organisation and its ideas?</p>

Swimming with or Against the Tide: Has the International Labour Organisation Been Co-Opted by Neoliberal Hegemony

<p>Work is one, if not the, primary mechanism through which the majority of the world's population experience economic globalisation. Work is intimately connected to matters of human rights, social equality, welfare, and class struggle and it is increasingly determined by activities that occur in the international and transnational levels. Neoliberal globalisation has fundamentally restructured the world of work. It has also undermined the social democratic worldview of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on which the global governance portfolio for labour most squarely falls. The ILO's current Director General Juan Somavia, in referring to this era of neoliberal hegemony, has said that "the ILO has often been swimming against the tide". This thesis undertakes a thorough examination of Somavia's statement in order to determine the extent to which the neoliberal tide has saturated the organisation and its ideas?</p>

Putrescine and its metabolic precursor arginine promote biofilm and c-di-GMP synthesis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Pseudomonas aeruginosa , an opportunistic bacterial pathogen can synthesize and catabolize a number of small cationic molecules known as polyamines. In several clades of bacteria polyamines regulate biofilm formation, a lifestyle-switching process that confers resistance to environmental stress. The polyamine putrescine and its biosynthetic precursors, L-arginine and agmatine, promote biofilm formation in Pseudomonas spp. However, it remains unclear whether the effect is a direct effect of polyamines or through a metabolic derivative. Here we used a genetic approach to demonstrate that putrescine accumulation, either through disruption of the spermidine biosynthesis pathway or the catabolic putrescine aminotransferase pathway, promoted biofilm formation in P. aeruginosa . Consistent with this observation, exogenous putrescine robustly induced biofilm formation in P. aeruginosa that was dependent on putrescine uptake and biosynthesis pathways. Additionally, we show that L-arginine, the biosynthetic precursor of putrescine, also promoted biofilm formation, but via a mechanism independent of putrescine or agmatine conversion. We found that both putrescine and L-arginine induced a significant increase in the intracellular level of bis-(3′-5′)-cyclic dimeric guanosine monophosphate (c-di-GMP) (c-di-GMP), a bacterial second messenger widely found in Proteobacteria that upregulates biofilm formation. Collectively these data show that putrescine and its metabolic precursor arginine promote biofilm and c-di-GMP synthesis in P. aeruginosa . Importance: Biofilm formation allows bacteria to physically attach to a surface, confers tolerance to antimicrobial agents, and promotes resistance to host immune responses. As a result, regulation of biofilm is often crucial for bacterial pathogens to establish chronic infections. A primary mechanism of biofilm promotion in bacteria is the molecule c-di-GMP, which promotes biofilm formation. The level of c-di-GMP is tightly regulated by bacterial enzymes. In this study, we found that putrescine, a small molecule ubiquitously found in eukaryotic cells, robustly enhances P. aeruginosa biofilm and c-di-GMP. We propose that P. aeruginosa may sense putrescine as a host-associated signal that triggers a lifestyle switching that favors chronic infection.

Cultural citizenship without state: historical roots of the modern polish citizenship model

Citizenship is usually seen as a product of modern nation-states, or of other political entities which possess institutional infrastructures and political systems capable of producing a coherent framework that defines the relationship between that system and its members. In this paper, we show that an early system of modern citizenship was created in the absence of a formal state, notably by the cultural elite of a stateless nation. The Polish case illustrates that an elite may become a dominant class in the given society only later, and institutionalize that early citizenship system within the framework of a newly founded state. As a result of the legacy of the emergence of citizenship predating the restoration of statehood, the contemporary Polish citizenship model is influenced by a strong and largely overlooked cultural component that emerged at the turn of the 19th century. This model uses the figure of the intelligentsia member as its ideal citizen. Despite the dramatic political and economic changes in the decades which have passed since its emergence, this cultural frame, which was institutionalized during the interwar period, still defines the key features of the Polish citizenship model. Consequently, we argue that the culturalization of citizenship is hardly a new phenomenon. It can be seen as a primary mechanism in the formation of civic polities within the imperial context. Moreover, it shows that such processes can have many ambiguous aspects as far as their Orientalizing forces of exclusion are concerned.