Anatomical and Biochemical Traits Associated with Field Resistance of Onion Cultivars to Onion Thrips and the Effect of Mechanical Injury on the Level of Biochemical Compounds in Onion Leaves

Thrips tabaci Lind. is a global pest and also represents a serious threat to onion production in Poland. In 2 years (2015–2016) of field studies, 8 onion cultivars were evaluated to characterize the resistance to onion thrips and to determine if any biochemical and anatomical features of onion plants are associated with antixenotic and/or antibiotic mechanisms of resistance. Additionally, the influence of mechanical injury on the content of several biochemical compounds in onion leaves was made. The resistance to thrips colonization during the migration period, abundance, and thrips damage throughout the whole vegetation season was determined. We identified two cultivars, Tęcza and Wenta, resistant to thrips colonization and abundance, and one cultivar Wenta resistant to thrips damage. A positive correlation between concentrations of the reducing sugars and thrips abundance and conversely negative relationships between the total phenolic content and thrips damage was confirmed in both years. We suspect that a thinner epidermal layer, a smaller area of epidermal and mesophilic cells, and a lower diameter of vascular bundles may favor the resistance of onion cultivars to thrips. Thrips foraging resulted in a decrease in the content of soluble sugars, sucrose, and plant pigments in the leaves of all onion varieties.

Relationships among the Fossil Fuel and Financial Markets during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Bayesian DCC-MGARCH Models

This study examined how the relationships among the fossil fuel, clean energy stock, gold, and Bitcoin markets have changed since the COVID-19 pandemic took place for hedging the price change risks in the fossil fuel markets. We applied the Bayesian Dynamic Conditional Correlation-Multivariate GARCH (DCC-MGARCH) models using US daily data from 2 January 2019 to 26 February 2021. Our results suggest that the fossil fuel (WTI crude oil and natural gas) and financial markets (clean energy stock, gold, and Bitcoin) generally had negative relationships in 2019 before the pandemic prevailed, but they became positive for a while in mid-2020, alternating between positive (0.8) and negative values (−0.8). As it is known that negative relationships are required among assets to hedge the risk of price changes, this implies that stakeholders need to be cautious in hedging the risk across the fossil fuel and financial markets when a crisis like COVID-19 occurs. However, our study also revealed that such negative relationships only lasted for three to six months, suggesting that the effects of the pandemic were short term and that stakeholders in the fossil fuel markets could cross hedge with the financial markets in the long term.

The Pragmatic American Revisited: A Direct Replication of Pickett and Baker (2014)

In 2014, Pickett and Baker cast doubt on the scholarly consensus that Americans are pragmatic about criminal justice. Previous research suggested this pragmaticism was evidenced by either null or positive relationships between seemingly opposite items (i.e., between dispositional and situational crime attributions and between punitiveness and rehabilitative policy support). Pickett and Baker (2014) argued that because these studies worded survey items in the same positive direction, respondents’ susceptibility to acquiescence bias led to artificially inflated positive correlations. Using a simple split-ballot experiment, they manipulated the direction of survey items and demonstrated bidirectional survey items resulted in negative relationships between attributions and between support for punitive and rehabilitative policies. We replicated Pickett and Baker’s (2014) methodology with a nationally representative sample of American respondents supplemented by a diverse student sample. Our results were generally consistent, and, in many cases, effect sizes were stronger than those observed in the original study. Americans appear much less pragmatic when survey items are bidirectional. Yet, we suggest the use of bidirectional over unidirectional survey items trades one set of problems for another. Instead, to reduce acquiescence bias and improve overall data quality, we encourage researchers to adopt item-specific questioning.

Contemporizing island biogeography theory with anthropogenic drivers of species richness

Classic ecological theory must explain effects of humans on biodiversity to be more applicable today. We contemporized island biogeographic theory providing native, introduced, and total species richness relationship expectations with natural and anthropogenic metrics of habitat diversity (geographic and economic area) and isolation from source pools (geographic and economic isolation). We assessed these expectations across Caribbean island herpetofauna clades. As expected by the contemporized theory, natural habitat diversity metrics exhibited positive relationships with native and introduced richness, strengthening positive total richness-area relationships. Geographic isolation exhibited negative relationships with native and positive relationships with introduced richness, weakening total richness-isolation relationships. Economic area and isolation exhibited negative and positive relationships, respectively, with native richness but positive and negative relationships, respectively, with introduced richness. Total richness relationships with economic area and isolation were strongest in clades with many introductions. As more species spread globally, these contemporary expectations will increasingly predict Anthropocene island biogeography.

The subject-personal characteristics of military university officers as predictors of burnout

The results of the study of the subject-personal characteristics of military university officers (hereinafter officers) as predictors of burnout are represented. 73 officers (men) at the age of 23 to 51 years were examined. Negative relationships between phases of burnout and subjective (cognitive, volitional, emotional control, behavioral regulation, communicative potential) and personal (meaningfulness of life, moral normality) characteristics among officers have been revealed. Individual components of subject-personal characteristics are in close interrelation, which indicates that we are dealing with a complex system organization. There are significant differences among officers with various kinds of activity in terms of indicators of subject-personal characteristics. There are specific interrelations between subject-personal characteristics and phases of burnout of officers, depending on the type of official activity.

Impact of public water supply unreliability on residential property prices in Marion County, West Virginia

Water supply unreliability in many public water systems stems from aging infrastructure. We measure unreliability by the issuance of boil water notices (BWNs) within one year prior to single-family residential sale observations. Using a spatial quantile regression framework on transactions between 2012 and 2017, we find statistically significant, negative relationships between BWNs and residential properties. The estimated impacts of unreliability on residential housing prices, however, are not uniform across the distribution of prices. Specifically, we find that BWNs have a larger impact on medium- to low-priced houses (at or below the 60 percent quantile) compared with high-priced houses. An aggregate marginal willingness-to-pay value of $4.2 million was computed for a one-day reduction in annual BWN throughout Marion County.

Associations of Serum Resistin With the Severity and Prognosis in Patients With Community-Acquired Pneumonia

BackgroundResistin is an endogenous ligand of Toll-like receptor 4 that activates several inflammatory signals. But the physiological function of resistin in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) remains unknown. The goal of this research was to explore the associations between serum resistin and the severity and prognosis in CAP patients through a retrospective cohort study.MethodsAll 212 CAP patients and 106 healthy cases were enrolled. Demographic characteristics were extracted. Serum resistin was determined via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The prognosis was tracked in CAP patients.ResultsSerum resistin on admission was raised in CAP patients compared with control cases. The level of resistin was gradually increased in parallel with CAP severity scores in CAP patients. Pearson and Spearman analyses revealed that serum resistin was positively correlated with CAP severity scores, white blood cells, urea nitrogen, creatinine, and inflammatory cytokines among CAP patients. There were negative relationships between resistin and hematocrit and albumin in CAP patients. Besides, linear and logistic regression analyses further indicated that serum resistin on admission was positively associated with CAP severity scores among CAP patients. Follow-up research revealed that serum resistin elevation on admission prolonged hospital stay in CAP patients.ConclusionSerum resistin on admission is positively correlated with the severity and hospital stay in CAP patients, indicating that resistin may be involved in the physiological process of CAP. Serum resistin may be a potential biomarker in the diagnosis and prognosis for CAP.

Personality Underpinnings of Identity: The Mediating Role of Internal Dialogs

The Circumplex of Identity Formation Modes (CIFM) is the latest approach designed to integrate the various concepts describing identity formation in the Erikson–Marcia tradition. The CIFM assumes the relationships between identity modes and personality traits. The process of identity formation emerges as a result of the interaction between dispositional traits and social demands. Presumably, it involves internal dialogs understood as juxtaposing different visions of oneself and evaluating matters from different perspectives. This paper aims to test whether internal dialogs mediate the relationships between traits and identity modes. Participants (aged 14–18; 217 men, 205 women) completed: International Personality Item Pool-Big Five Markers-50, Internal Dialogical Activity Scale-Revised, and Circumplex Identity Modes Questionnaire. It was established that self-reflective dialogs mediate the positive relationship between Intellect and Consolidation; additionally, self-reflective and defensive dialogs mediate the positive relationship between Intellect and Exploration. Moreover, defensive and disruptive dialogs mediate the negative relationships between Emotional Stability and Moratorivity, Defiance, and Diffusion.

Forming of spontaneity and creativity during playback theater activities

Finding the solution of many problems requires from person an ability of quick unconscious perception. Between spontaneity and creativity, there are both positive and negative relationships. In accordance with the authors’ forming program, the participants were equated with Playback actors with only difference that the actors aim to improve their skills while the participants develop their spontaneity. The authors have built the forming program which contained a set of training and developmental exercises and games aimed at developing spontaneity, attention and creative thinking. Six interconnected blocks of the forming program structure were characterized (Introduction; The development of spontaneity through creativity; The development of spontaneity through tolerance to uncertainty; The development of spontaneity through autonomy; Generalization and combination; Summing up). Its effectiveness was analyzed with help of an initial and final survey of participants. During the study, the participants’ level of spontaneity increased.

Group Identity as a Prognostic Factor of Mental Health in Preschool Children

Introduction. Victim stance of an individual may arise due to negative social relationships (Chojnacka, 2020) and may be associated with the experience of loneliness (Barbaro, 1999); lack of close friends and rejection by peers; lack of play partner and negative relationships in childhood (Chase, 1999). However, studies investigating the peculiarities of group identity development and the problem of loneliness in preschool children are insufficiently presented in the modern scientific literature. In this article, the phenomenon of victimhood, the experience of acceptance or rejection by a group of peers are considered in the context of preschooler’s mental health genesis. Purpose. The aim of the study is to determine the features of group identity development in preschool children in kindergartens based on the examples of children and the memories of adults. Materials and methods: an anonymous survey with open-ended and closed-ended questions was used (n = 247). The participants of the survey were parents of preschoolers attending modern preschool educational institutions (n = 140) and respondents who attended kindergarten as children (n = 107, aged 12 to 55). They were asked to evaluate the organization of groups in kindergarten; the features of interpersonal interaction of children; meeting the needs of children in child-care facilities; the main functions of the kindergarten and their level of trust in educators. Results: Kindergarten is a second important environment where a child continues to develop his group identity and ego-identity, and not just a place where children stay when parents are at work. Children who have difficulty interacting with their peers often face aggression from peers, experience feelings of loneliness, but not always receive help from their teachers. The majority of respondents (75.7%) answered that the experience of communication in kindergarten influenced their emotional state, self-esteem and communicative competence at school. Conclusions: The peculiarities of children's group identity in the preschool period are experiences of interest in interaction with a certain group of peers, the desire to be accepted and at the same time hostility towards or lack of interest in other peers. A significant percentage of experienced loneliness among modern children (35.5%) and adults (27.1%) who attended kindergarten more than 30 years ago indicates that this problem has existed for decades and requires more attention from scientists. Absence of play partners and frequent conflicts with peers lead to low self-esteem, fear of communication with children, other toxic experience and, as a consequence, to the risks of victimization in the future