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Objective: This study investigates the efficacy of using a long-acting insulin analog, along with the infusion of regular insulin, in achieving appropriate glycemic control and correcting lactic acidosis in patients post orthotopic heart transplant who demonstrate severe lactic acidosis and insulin resistance. Methods: This was a retrospective study of two cohorts (IRB FLA 20-003) of patients post orthotopic heart transplant with severe lactic acidosis and insulin resistance who were admitted to a tertiary intensive care unit and treated with (group 1) or without long-acting insulin analog (group 2) within the first 24 h of admission to the intensive care unit. Insulin resistance is defined as the requirement for intravenous regular insulin infusion of more than 20 units/h without the ability to achieve appropriate serum glucose level (120–180 mg /dL). Severe lactic acidosis is defined as arterial lactic acid of more than 10 mmol/L. The following parameters were investigated: time to correct lactic acidosis, duration of postoperative mechanical ventilation, the need for periprocedural mechanical circulatory support, and 28-day mortality. Results: The 28-day mortality was zero in both groups. Two patients required periprocedural mechanical support in group one, and ten patients required mechanical support in group two (RR = 0.224, 95%, confidence interval 0.052–0.95, Z = 2.029, p = 0.042). Three patients required tracheostomy in group one, and four patients required tracheostomy in group two (RR 0.84, 95 confidence interval 0.20–3.48, Z = 0.23, P = 0.81). Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used to compare time to correct lactic acidosis, with lactic acid resolution being faster in group one ( X ¯ 1 = 19.7 h, SD ± 12.6 h X ¯ 2 = 29.3 h, SD ± 19.6 h, Z-value − 2.02, p-value 0.043). The duration of mechanical ventilation was less in group one ( X ¯ 1 = 29 h, SD ± 12.7 h, X ¯ 2 = 55.1 h, SD ± 44.5 h, Z-value: − 1.92, p-value 0.05). Conclusion: Administration of low-dose long-acting insulin glargine led to the resolution of the lactic acidosis, insulin resistance, and decreased requirements for pressor and inotropic support, which led to decreased need for mechanical circulatory support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study investigates the efficacy of using a long-acting insulin analog, along with the infusion of regular insulin, in achieving appropriate glycemic control and correcting lactic acidosis in patients post orthotopic heart transplant who demonstrate severe lactic acidosis and insulin resistance. Methods: This was a retrospective study of two cohorts (IRB FLA 20-003) of patients post orthotopic heart transplant with severe lactic acidosis and insulin resistance who were admitted to a tertiary intensive care unit and treated with (group 1) or without long-acting insulin analog (group 2) within the first 24 h of admission to the intensive care unit. Insulin resistance is defined as the requirement for intravenous regular insulin infusion of more than 20 units/h without the ability to achieve appropriate serum glucose level (120–180 mg /dL). Severe lactic acidosis is defined as arterial lactic acid of more than 10 mmol/L. The following parameters were investigated: time to correct lactic acidosis, duration of postoperative mechanical ventilation, the need for periprocedural mechanical circulatory support, and 28-day mortality. Results: The 28-day mortality was zero in both groups. Two patients required periprocedural mechanical support in group one, and ten patients required mechanical support in group two (RR = 0.224, 95%, confidence interval 0.052–0.95, Z = 2.029, p = 0.042). Three patients required tracheostomy in group one, and four patients required tracheostomy in group two (RR 0.84, 95 confidence interval 0.20–3.48, Z = 0.23, P = 0.81). Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used to compare time to correct lactic acidosis, with lactic acid resolution being faster in group one ( X ¯ 1 = 19.7 h, SD ± 12.6 h X ¯ 2 = 29.3 h, SD ± 19.6 h, Z-value − 2.02, p-value 0.043). The duration of mechanical ventilation was less in group one ( X ¯ 1 = 29 h, SD ± 12.7 h, X ¯ 2 = 55.1 h, SD ± 44.5 h, Z-value: − 1.92, p-value 0.05). Conclusion: Administration of low-dose long-acting insulin glargine led to the resolution of the lactic acidosis, insulin resistance, and decreased requirements for pressor and inotropic support, which led to decreased need for mechanical circulatory support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 10-week forgiveness education curriculum based on a developmentally appropriate version of Enright's process model was taught to two classes of fifth graders (Primary 6, ages 10–11, N = 30) attending a low-income school in a midwestern city in the United States. An exploratory, single-group pretest–posttest design was used to examine changes in forgiveness toward a specific offender, forgiveness knowledge and understanding, and levels of anger. Following the education, the students illustrated statistically significant increased forgiveness toward an offender who had hurt them and knowledge about forgiveness. Statistical significance was not found for changes in anger. Verbal statements from the students also illustrate that forgiveness education increased students' knowledge about forgiveness and willingness to forgive in situations of hurt and conflict. Responses from students illustrated that they enjoyed the children's literature in this specific forgiveness education curriculum. Implications for future research and the use of forgiveness education as a form of peace and moral education are discussed. Public Significance Statement: Results from this study illustrate that a 10-week forgiveness education curriculum can be an important component of peace education for fifth-grade students. Students showed increased forgiveness toward a specific offender and increased knowledge about forgiveness after receiving the education, and students' verbal reports illustrate that they enjoyed and benefited from this specific curriculum using children's literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has documented significant influences of parental psychological well-being on parenting. Yet, few studies have examined multiple measures of psychological well-being simultaneously to understand the underlying pathways and mediation factors. The present study employed new parents, without chronically high depressive symptoms, to examine across-time associations between the frequency of story reading and multiple measures of parental psychological well-being, namely the depressive symptoms, self-esteem, and global sense of personal control, in the first six years after becoming parents. Cross-lagged panel models with three time intervals were constructed to examine the across-time associations with 177 new parents. Significant direct and indirect effects between parental psychological well-being and story reading in the first six years after childbirth were identified. In the first three years after childbirth, new parents with more depressive symptoms and lower self-esteem tended to engage in more frequent story reading. New parents' global sense of personal control, when the child was one to three years old, had a direct positive effect on story reading two to three years later. Through the mediation of self-esteem, parents with low psychological well-being after childbirth tended to engage in more frequent story reading when the child was three to six years old. Furthermore, the indirect effects of story reading on parental well-being were mediated by self-esteem and global sense of personal control. Findings from the present study underscored the importance of considering multiple measures of psychological well-being in understanding the bidirectional interactions between new parents' well-being and early story reading in early family context. Highlights: Significant cross-lagged effects between new parents' psychological well-being and their frequency of story reading in the first six years after childbirth were identified. New parents with lower self-esteem and higher depressive symptoms in the first year after childbirth were associated with more frequent story reading when the child was three to six years old. In the first six years of parenthood, new parents who read stories to their children more often in the first year tended to have lower psychological well-being when the child was three to six years old. Findings were discussed in relation to the potential influences of social contexts, such as the perceived support and the perceived expectations of parental role, on shaping parental well-being and early parenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carter and Gilovich (2012) investigated the centrality of experiential and material purchases to the self and concluded people have stronger associations with their experiential than their material purchases. In a pre-registered experiment with a US American Amazon Mechanical Turk sample, (N=743), we successfully replicated their Studies 3A, 3B, 3C, and 5. Experiential purchases were perceived as more reflective of true-self than material purchases for both self (d=0.65[0.57,0.73]) and for strangers (d=0.88[0.80,0.96]), and that when meeting a new person, information about experiential purchases was considered to be more insightful (d=1.13[1.04,1.22]), useful (d=1.14[1.05,1.23]), and fun to talk about (d=1.96[1.83,2.08]) than material purchases. Self-concept was more strongly associated with experiential purchases than with material purchases (d=0.39[0.25,0.54]), and that there was a negative association between experiential purchase satisfaction and the willingness to exchange memory (r=-.34[-.43,-.24]) (all effects above were p<.001). We added an extension examining change in evaluations of material and experiential purchases over time and found that current evaluations were more negative than past evaluations, yet to a lesser extent for experiential compared to material purchases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carter and Gilovich (2012) investigated the centrality of experiential and material purchases to the self and concluded people have stronger associations with their experiential than their material purchases. In a pre-registered experiment with a US American Amazon Mechanical Turk sample, (N=743), we successfully replicated their Studies 3A, 3B, 3C, and 5. Experiential purchases were perceived as more reflective of true-self than material purchases for both self (d=0.65[0.57,0.73]) and for strangers (d=0.88[0.80,0.96]), and that when meeting a new person, information about experiential purchases was considered to be more insightful (d=1.13[1.04,1.22]), useful (d=1.14[1.05,1.23]), and fun to talk about (d=1.96[1.83,2.08]) than material purchases. Self-concept was more strongly associated with experiential purchases than with material purchases (d=0.39[0.25,0.54]), and that there was a negative association between experiential purchase satisfaction and the willingness to exchange memory (r=-.34[-.43,-.24]) (all effects above were p<.001). We added an extension examining change in evaluations of material and experiential purchases over time and found that current evaluations were more negative than past evaluations, yet to a lesser extent for experiential compared to material purchases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined differences among children in their endorsement of an adult's claim, their subsequent empirical investigation of that claim, and their resolution of any potential conflict between the claim and their empirical investigation. American and Chinese preschool (N = 171, M = 4.71 years) and elementary school (N = 128, M = 7.59 years) children were presented with five, different-sized, Russian dolls and asked to indicate the heaviest doll. Children typically selected the biggest doll. Children then heard either a false, counter-intuitive claim (i.e., smallest doll = heaviest) or a claim confirming their initial intuition (i.e., biggest doll = heaviest). Children frequently endorsed the experimenter's claim even when it was counter-intuitive. The experimenter then left the room. During the experimenter's absence, older children who had heard the counter-intuitive as opposed to the confirming claim explored the dolls more than younger children, especially when subtly prompted to explore. Moreover, only older children who heard the counter-intuitive claim simultaneously picked up the smallest and biggest doll, a more deliberate test of the experimenter's claim. By implication, children engage in selective exploration following a surprising claim. Older children's more systematic explorations of what they have been told may reflect improvements in their ability to test such claims and in their greater sensitivity to the fact that unexpected claims can and should be empirically investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How socialization happens on the ground: Narrative practices as alternate socializing pathways in Taiwanese and European-American families. Specifically, the longitudinal design would clarify whether directive guidance is constantly practiced with infants as they develop and shed light onto how Chinese-heritage parents reinforce the ideologies such as I gu an i , I xiào i , and I dào dé guan i in everyday socialization practices. Keywords: Mother-infant interaction; Assets-based learning; Chinese culture; Directive guidance; Mixed-methods design EN Mother-infant interaction Assets-based learning Chinese culture Directive guidance Mixed-methods design 139 143 5 08/07/21 20210501 NES 210501 The article by Zhang, Wang, and Duh (2021, this issue, DOI: 10.1159/000517081) provides a comprehensive review of the existing research concerning cultural ways of learning focusing on Chinese and Taiwanese cultures (e.g., Li, 2012), verbal and nonverbal aspects of socialization (e.g., Goldin-Meadow & Saltzman, 2000; Miller et al., 2012), learning through observation (e.g., Gaskins & Paradise, 2010), and multifaceted frameworks of learning (e.g., Rogoff, 2014). Second, this study demonstrates and expands culture-specific socialization practices in Chinese-heritage communities from 2 years old to as early as 9 months old. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the history of women driving cars and the social challenges they confront. Also cited are the personalities who objected against women motorists like novelist Lady Violet Greville, the rage over a woman cyclist in Great Britain in the mid-1890s, and the efforts by motoring journals to promote motor-driving as a glamorous and safe feminine activity.

The early use of person perception terms was examined via an analysis of the spontaneous speech of four young children in conversation with their parents at home. All four children were producing such terms early in their third year. Like their parents, children used the terms in two distinguishable ways: to attribute a trait to a person or to characterize a person's ongoing action. Most of these terms were evaluative, whether positive or negative. Parents often made direct comments to their children about both their traits and ongoing actions; children made similar comments about themselves. Parents also used person perception terms to make comments about others who were not party to the conversation; children did likewise. A considerable proportion of the trait terms that children produced served as interpretive comments on someone's actions or preferences. Our findings suggest that from an early age, children are trait theorists. Not only do they describe ongoing actions using trait vocabulary, they interpret those ongoing actions by attributing traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of social group information on the learning and socializing preferences of Hong Kong Chinese children were examined. Specifically, the degree to which variability in racial out-group exposure affects children's use of race to make decisions about unfamiliar individuals (Chinese, White, Southeast Asian) was investigated. Participants (N = 212; Mage  = 60.51 months) chose functions for novel objects after informants demonstrated their use; indicated with which peer group member to socialize; and were measured on racial group recognition, preference, and identification. Overall, children preferred in-group members, though out-group exposure and the relative social status of out-groups mattered as well. At a young age, children's specific experiences with different races influence how they learn and befriend others across racial group lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although children often believe an adult's claims, they may have opportunities to check these claims by gathering relevant empirical evidence themselves. Here, we examine whether children seize such opportunities, especially when the claim is counterintuitive. Chinese preschool and elementary schoolchildren were presented with five different-sized Russian dolls and asked to indicate the heaviest doll. Almost all children selected the biggest doll. Half of the children then heard a false, counterintuitive claim (i.e., smallest = heaviest). The remaining children heard a claim confirming their initial intuition (i.e., biggest = heaviest). Children in both age groups typically endorsed the experimenter's claim even when it was counterintuitive. However, during the experimenter's subsequent absence, elementary schoolchildren explored the dolls more if they had received counterintuitive rather than confirming testimony whereas preschool children rarely explored, no matter what testimony they had received. Thus, with increasing age, children seize opportunities to test counterintuitive claims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The way in which children consider information may depend on the groups to which they belong and the social status those groups occupy. In three studies, we examined how children infer their peers' wealth status based on the possessions present and ethnic group membership. We recruited 242 Hong Kong children (M age = 5;11, SD age = 1;0) from the ethnic Chinese majority (Study 1: 115 children) and two ethnic minorities (Study 2a: 84 South Asian/Southeast Asian children; Study 2b: 43 White/Biracial children). Overall, participants were able to distinguish between low- and high-wealth items, and make correct wealth-based inferences. Compared to both groups of ethnic minority children, ethnic majority children tend to judge their ingroup peers as wealthier even when they possessed fewer resources than outgroup peers. Thus, children inferred peer wealth status based on the resources present, but such inference was impacted by their own ethnic group membership and socioeconomic status. • Children can discern wealth-indicating resources and infer their rightful owners. • Hong Kong children consider ethnic group membership and social status when make wealth-related inferences. • Ethnic majority, not minority, children made more errors if outgroup peers were wealthier than ingroup peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heuristics-and-biases research program highlights reasons for expecting people to be poor intuitive forecasters. This article tests the power of a cognitive-debiasing training module ("CHAMPS KNOW") to improve probability judgments in a four-year series of geopolitical forecasting tournaments sponsored by the U.S. intelligence community. Although the training lasted less than one hour, it consistently improved accuracy (Brier scores) by 6 to 11% over the control condition. Cognitive ability and practice also made largely independent contributions to predictive accuracy. Given the brevity of the training tutorials and the heterogeneity of the problems posed, the observed effects are likely to be lower-bound estimates of what could be achieved by more intensive interventions. Future work should isolate which prongs of the multipronged CHAMPS KNOW training were most effective in improving judgment on which categories of problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To adult humans, the task of forming an impression of another social being seems effortless and even obligatory. In 2 experiments, we offer the first systematic cross-cultural examination of impression formation in European American and East Asian preschool children. Children across both cultures easily inferred basic personality traits, such asniceandmean, about unfamiliar peers from behavioral information, whether or not they were specifically prompted to do so. Children were able to identify peers they had seen before, to remember the traits associated with these peers, and to anticipate future behaviors consistent with the traits they had attributed. Thus, for basic traits, the ability to make behavior-to-behavior predictions, via an intervening trait inference, is present in young children across diverse cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human rationality–the ability to behave in order to maximize the achievement of their presumed goals (i.e., their optimal choices)–is the foundation for democracy. Research evidence has suggested that voters may not make decisions after exhaustively processing relevant information; instead, our decision-making capacity may be restricted by our own biases and the environment. In this paper, we investigate the extent to which humans in a democratic society can be rational when making decisions in a serious, complex situation–voting in a local political election. We believe examining human rationality in a political election is important, because a well-functioning democracy rests largely upon the rational choices of individual voters. Previous research has shown that explicit political attitudes predict voting intention and choices (i.e., actual votes) in democratic societies, indicating that people are able to reason comprehensively when making voting decisions. Other work, though, has demonstrated that the attitudes of which we may not be aware, such as our implicit (e.g., subconscious) preferences, can predict voting choices, which may question the well-functioning democracy. In this study, we systematically examined predictors on voting intention and choices in the 2014 mayoral election in Taipei, Taiwan. Results indicate that explicit political party preferences had the largest impact on voting intention and choices. Moreover, implicit political party preferences interacted with explicit political party preferences in accounting for voting intention, and in turn predicted voting choices. Ethnic identity and perceived voting intention of significant others were found to predict voting choices, but not voting intention. In sum, to the comfort of democracy, voters appeared to engage mainly explicit, controlled processes in making their decisions; but findings on ethnic identity and perceived voting intention of significant others may suggest otherwise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In two studies, 5- and 6-year-old children were questioned about the status of the protagonist embedded in three different types of stories. In realistic stories that only included ordinary events, all children, irrespective of family background and schooling, claimed that the protagonist was a real person. In religious stories that included ordinarily impossible events brought about by divine intervention, claims about the status of the protagonist varied sharply with exposure to religion. Children who went to church or were enrolled in a parochial school, or both, judged the protagonist in religious stories to be a real person, whereas secular children with no such exposure to religion judged the protagonist in religious stories to be fictional. Children's upbringing was also related to their judgment about the protagonist in fantastical stories that included ordinarily impossible events whether brought about by magic (Study 1) or without reference to magic (Study 2). Secular children were more likely than religious children to judge the protagonist in such fantastical stories to be fictional. The results suggest that exposure to religious ideas has a powerful impact on children's differentiation between reality and fiction, not just for religious stories but also for fantastical stories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children prefer learning from, and affiliating with, their racial in-group but those preferences may vary for biracial children. Monoracial (White, Black, Asian) and biracial (Black/White, Asian/White) children (N = 246, 3-8 years) had their racial identity primed. In a learning preferences task, participants determined the function of a novel object after watching adults (White, Black, and Asian) demonstrate its uses. In the social preferences task, participants saw pairs of children (White, Black, and Asian) and chose with whom they most wanted to socially affiliate. Biracial children showed flexibility in racial identification during learning and social tasks. However, minority-primed biracial children were not more likely than monoracial minorities to socially affiliate with primed racial in-group members, indicating their in-group preferences are contextually based. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both talent and effort are considered essential sources of achievement, but past research suggests a preference for people who appear to achieve through talent. This research examined the potential naturalness preference in 306 Chinese children (Mage: 6.12 years; 164 girls) and 352 adults (Mage: 19.87 years; 182 women) in 2019. In Study 1, participants evaluated a natural or striver protagonist of equal achievement. Children attributed greater competence and warmth to naturals than strivers; adults exhibited this preference only when attributing competence. In Study 2, participants indicated their behavioral preferences between the two protagonists. Children, but not adults, interacted more with naturals than strivers. These findings indicate the naturalness preference emerges early (ds ≥.27) but declines in strength over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silibinin, also known as silybin, is isolated from milk thistle (Silybum marianum). Silibinin has been demonstrated to be a good lead compound due to its potential to prevent and treat prostate cancer. Its moderate potency and poor pharmacokinetic profile hindered it from moving forward to therapeutic use. Our research group has been working on optimizing silibinin for the potential treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer. Our previous studies established 5,7,20-O-trimethylsilybins as promising lead compounds as they can selectively suppress androgen receptor (AR)-positive LNCaP cell proliferation. Encouraged by the promising data, the present study aims to investigate the relationships between the core structure of 5,7,20-O-trimethylsilybin and their antiproliferative activities towards AR-positive (LNCaP) and AR-negative prostate cancer cell lines (PC-3 and DU145). The structure–activity relationships among the four different core structures (including flavanonol-type flavonolignan (silibinin), flavone-type flavonolignan (hydnocarpin D), chalcone-type flavonolignan, and taxifolin (a flavonolignan precursor) indicate that 5,7,20-O-trimethylsilybins are the most promising scaffold to selectively suppress AR-positive LNCaP prostate cancer cell proliferation. Further investigation on the antiproliferative potency of their optically enriched versions of the most promising 5,7,20-O-trimethylsilybins led to the conclusion that (10R,11R) derivatives (silybin A series) are more potent than (10S,11S) derivatives (silybin B series) in suppressing AR positive LNCaP cell proliferation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the bestselling Du Lala novel series portraying the career rise and love life of a "foreign corporate white collar woman" in contemporary China. It argues that on top of the books' popular image as career novels that offer useful tips on office politics and desirable Western business practices for young, educated, upwardly mobile urban women, they also inculcate sartorial and consuming practices as a crucial technology to construct an ideal cosmopolitan femininity predicated on material success, cultural and economic capital, and integration with the world. In Lala's process of "striving for success" (fen dou) and her fashioning of a neoliberal, enterprising, and self-responsible self who is determined to achieve success and status often measured in terms of financial gains and commodity ownership, sartorial display, bodily adornment, and material consumption mediated via Western styles/brands figure crucially. Fashion thus functions as a crucial and contested site where global consumer culture, local tradition, and post-socialist party politics intricately intertwine and vie for ascendance, with consequences reverberating both in the geopolitical dimension of modernization and also in the biopolitical dimension of self-construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the results of experimental evaluation of the effectiveness of agent support in e-negotiations. The agent-enhanced e-negotiation system eAgora has been used in the experiments. The system features an agent that assists the user in generating candidate offers, evaluating and critiquing incoming offers, and critiquing counteroffers. The work investigates the effects of agent support and task complexity on negotiation performance and perceived measures of usefulness, satisfaction, ease of use, and confidence. Overall, the results support the expectation that use of an agent leads to higher level of negotiation effectiveness, in particular for higher complexity tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

‘Choice’, ‘freedom’ and ‘agency’ are terms liberally appropriated in recent years by popular women’s cultural genres to advance an image of the new, empowered woman confidently embracing patriarchal heterosexuality and commodity culture. Critics such as Rosalind Gill have linked this image to the influence of contemporary neoliberalism. This article extends these claims in order to argue that with the rise of this new female subject that reflects the workings of the neoliberal process of subjectification as immanent within and responsive to normative power, a more detailed examination is necessary of the changed meanings of choice and freedom. In the light of this changed form of governance and subjectification, feminist critique of popular women’s culture needs to readjust its terms of engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Long traditions in the social sciences have emphasized the gradual internalization of intergroup attitudes and the putatively more basic tendency to prefer the groups to which one belongs. In four experiments (N = 883) spanning two cultures and two status groups within one of those cultures, we obtained new evidence that implicit intergroup attitudes emerge in young children in a form indistinguishable from adult attitudes. Strikingly, this invariance from childhood to adulthood holds for members of socially dominant majorities, who consistently favor their in-group, as well as for members of a disadvantaged minority, who, from the early moments of race-based categorization, do not show a preference for their in-group. Far from requiring a protracted period of internalization, implicit intergroup attitudes are characterized by early enculturation and developmental invariance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Children prefer to learn from informants in consensus with one another. However, no research has examined whether this preference exists across cultures, and whether the race of the informants impacts that preference. In 2 studies, one hundred thirty-six 4- to 7-year-old European American and Taiwanese children demonstrated a systematic preference for a consensus. Nevertheless, the initial strength and persistence of that preference depended on the racial composition of the consensus. Children's preference for consensus members belonging to the same race as themselves persisted even when only one consensus member remained to provide information. When the consensus consisted of different-race informants, preference for the consensus was initially apparent but lost when only one member from the consensus remained with the dissenting informant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chick lit's emphasis on choice, agency and conspicuous consumption has been linked to the impact of Anglo-American neoliberalism. This paper argues that the similarly themed global chick lit, springing up in developing countries and ex-communist countries in recent years, works in tandem with the economic policies of global capitalism that breaks down national/geographical borders and promises a desirable world order of universalized choice and freedom. More than just the Western commodities and Western-defined and locally endorsed values of beauty and femininity, the global chick lit propagates the idea of a neoliberal, global sisterhood of chic, empowered, consumerist and individualistically minded women who find freedom through consumption and progress in following Western commodities and values. Here geopolitics and biopolitics combine together to aid the expansion of Anglo-American neoliberal ideas. This paper uses Shanghai Baby as an example of the global chick lit in China, a hitherto unexplored market. Set in China's most Westernized city, this novel portrays a new generation of young, urban, professional Chinese women who celebrate material pleasure and increased sexual agency in the context of China's market liberalization and the influx of global capital. While reflecting the impact of neoliberalism, the global chick lit also hints at the gaps between the local and the Western and the uneven nature of economic development, thus setting into greater relief the inherent race and class hierarchies and exclusions behind the neoliberal rhetoric of universalized choice and freedom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses an inquiry into the use of culture-specific interpretive frameworks by the families in Longwood, Florida and Taipei, Taiwan when narrating the experiences of the children and whether personal storytelling is still occurring routinely in the families as the children grow older. It explores whether the Taipei families remain slanting their personal storytelling in didactic direction. It expects that personal storytelling would continue to be a strong practice during the children's preschool years and embody the contrasting frameworks. Moreover, it discusses personal storytelling's routine nature.

In the digital economy, electronic auction systems are becoming more prevalent in facilitating the transactions between buyers and sellers. Auction websites, such as eBay and Amazon, as well as more sophisticated platforms, such as Moai and FrictionlessCommerce have increased transaction volume by offering tailored auction protocols to specific customer groups. meet2trade is a generic electronic market platform that supports various auction mechanisms. This study examines the impact of a discount in a second-price, sealed-bid mechanism on bidding behavior and market outcomes. Emphasis is thereby placed on bidders’ system-based perceptions, beliefs about usage and institutional-based trust, and intention to use such an auction. Ninety students were recruited to participate in an experiment held at a Western European university. The experiment observed user behavior in second-price auctions with and without a discount. The results demonstrate that although discounts do affect bidding behavior and economic outcomes, they do not influence bidder’s intentions to use such auction mechanisms. Instead, we found that intention to use is influenced by institutional and usage beliefs that are shaped by system-based perceptions, which in turn provide specific advice to market engineers on the technical aspects influencing system adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents initial findings from an evaluation research study of the implementation of a Web-based decision support tool, the Quality School Portfolio (QSP), developed at the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The study focused on users'experiences with the training for and implementation of QSP. Data were collected by telephone interviews. The results show that QSP provided educators with enhanced access to more extensive and broadly founded student data and with the ability to analyze student data to identify at-risk students. Additionally, QSP was found to promote collaboration and shared planning among educators. It is concluded that technology tools, which can facilitate the analysis and reporting of educational data, have opened up the prospect of timely identification of at-risk students and interventions to meet their educational needs. Tools like this also support sound assessment practices, providing opportunities for frequent assessment and other evidence of competency beyond standardized testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most common mutation in cystic fibrosis (deletion of Phe-508 in the first nucleotide binding domain (ΔF508)) in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) causes retention of the mutant protein in the endoplasmic reticulum. We previously showed that the ΔF508 mutation causes the CFTR protein to be retained in the endoplasmic reticulum in an inactive and structurally altered state. Proper packing of the transmembrane (TM) segments is critical for function because the TM segments form the chloride channel. Here we tested whether the ΔF508 mutation altered packing of the TM segments by disulfide cross-linking analysis between TM6 and TM12 in wild-type and ΔF508 CFTRs. These TM segments were selected because TM6 appears to line the chloride channel, and cross-linking between these TM segments has been observed in the CFTR sister protein, the multidrug resistance P-glycoprotein. We first mapped potential contact points in wild-type CFTR by cysteine mutagenesis and thiol cross-linking analysis. Disulfide cross-linking was detected in CFTR mutants M348C(TM6)/T1142C(TM12), T351C(TM6)/T1142C(TM12), and W356C(TM6)/W1145C(TM12) in a wildtype background. The disulfide cross-linking occurs intramolecularly and was reducible by dithiothreitol. Introduction of the ΔF508 mutation into these cysteine mutants, however, abolished cross-linking. The results suggest that the ΔF508 mutation alters interactions between the TM domains. Therefore, a potential target to correct folding defects in the ΔF508 mutant of CFTR is to identify compounds that promote correct folding of the TM domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the construction of the culture-specific self through a form of seemingly harmful socializing practices among young Taiwanese children. Spontaneous daily family interactions have been systematically and longitudinally videotaped in seven families and events of shame are found to occur regularly at all datapoints. One third of these events occur in chains, involving multiple episodes about the child’s transgressions committed at different times, mostly in the here-and-now, followed by reenactments of the past and expectations for a better self in the future. While in nearly half of the episodes, some authority is explicitly invoked to judge the child’s behaviors, family members are always co-present with the child and ready to share his/her transgression and shame. Findings of analyses on spatiotemporal and relational markers in these situated events suggest a dynamic and fluid view of the self and a holistic treatment of multi-leveled contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the altered structure of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) under inhibited maturation condition. Cause of cystic fibrosis; Comparison between mature and immature CFTR; Expression of the properties of CFTR in the presence of proteasome inhibitor carbobenzoxy-L-leucyl-L-leucyl-L-leucinal.

Provides information on the pedagogical and technological challenges of using digitized primary sources in the classroom. Information on the two organizations working together to make American history accessible to educators on the World Wide Web; Detailed information on operates at the Center for Children and Technology (CCT); Conclusion reached.

Identifying high‐quality causal explanations is key to scientific understanding. This research (N = 202; 50% girls; Mage: 5.82 years; 64% Asian, 33% White, and 3% multiracial; data collected from 2018 to 2024) examined how explanation circularity and informants' social dominance impact children's learning preferences for causal explanations. Raised in a culture valuing circular logic, Chinese children still preferred non‐circular explanations and learning from informants providing non‐circular explanations (d ≥ 0.50). When informants with non‐circular explanations were subordinate to those with circular explanations, Chinese and American children preferred non‐circular over circular explanations (d = 1.10), but did not prefer learning new information from either informant. Although children weigh explanation quality over informant dominance when seeking explanations for given questions, they consider both cues when evaluating informants' credibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Developing Belief Network is a consortium of researchers studying human development in diverse social-cultural settings, with a focus on the interplay between general cognitive development and culturally specific processes of socialization and cultural transmission in early and middle childhood. The current manuscript describes the study protocol for the network's first wave of data collection, which aims to explore the development and diversity of religious cognition and behavior. This work is guided by three key research questions: (1) How do children represent and reason about religious and supernatural agents? (2) How do children represent and reason about religion as an aspect of social identity? (3) How are religious and supernatural beliefs transmitted within and between generations? The protocol is designed to address these questions via a set of nine tasks for children between the ages of 4 and 10 years, a comprehensive survey completed by their parents/caregivers, and a task designed to elicit conversations between children and caregivers. This study is being conducted in 39 distinct cultural-religious groups (to date), spanning 17 countries and 13 languages. In this manuscript, we provide detailed descriptions of all elements of this study protocol, give a brief overview of the ways in which this protocol has been adapted for use in diverse religious communities, and present the final, English-language study materials for 6 of the 39 cultural-religious groups who are currently being recruited for this study: Protestant Americans, Catholic Americans, American members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jewish Americans, Muslim Americans, and religiously unaffiliated Americans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Norenzayan et al. argue that prosocial religion develops through cultural evolution. Surprisingly, they give little attention to developmental accounts of prosocial religious beliefs. A consideration of the developmental literature supports some, but not all, of the authors’ conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Less than half of American children meet national physical activity (PA) recommendations. This study tested the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of using wearable PA monitors to increase PA in school-age children. Methods. In Phase 1 of this study, conducted in 2014, 32 fifth-grade students enrolled in a low-resource middle school were given a waist-worn Fitbit Zip monitor for 4 weeks to test its feasibility (adherence) and acceptability. Adherence, wear time of ≥8 hours per day, was examined. Feedback was solicited from parents through structured interviews. In Phase 2, conducted in 2015, 42 sixth-grade students were assigned, by classroom, to one of three conditions (Fitbit + goal and incentive-based intervention, Fitbit only, or control) to test the feasibility of the wrist-worn Fitbit Charge and its preliminary effectiveness in increasing PA over 6 weeks. Results. In Phase 1, average adherence was 64.1%. In Phase 2, it was 73.4% and 80.2% for participants in the Fitbit + intervention and Fitbit only groups, respectively (p=.07). After controlling for baseline values, weight status, and sex, there were no significant group differences in changes in MVPA or steps from baseline to follow-up. Conclusions. While moderately acceptable, wearable PA monitors did not increase PA levels in this sample. They may be more effective within a coordinated school-based physical activity program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Good judgment is often gauged against two gold standards - coherence and correspondence. Judgments are coherent if they demonstrate consistency with the axioms of probability theory or propositional logic. Judgments are correspondent if they agree with ground truth. When gold standards are unavailable, silver standards such as consistency and discrimination can be used to evaluate judgment quality. Individuals are consistent if they assign similar judgments to comparable stimuli, and they discriminate if they assign different judgments to dissimilar stimuli. We ask whether "superforecasters", individuals with noteworthy correspondence skills (see Mellers et al., 2014) show superior performance on laboratory tasks assessing other standards of good judgment. Results showed that superforecasters either tied or out-performed less correspondent forecasters and undergraduates with no forecasting experience on tests of consistency, discrimination, and coherence. While multifaceted, good judgment may be a more unified than concept than previously thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stimulating caregiving practices facilitate early child development and learning. This study examined child-, family-, and country-level predictors of maternal and paternal cognitive and socio-emotional caregiving in 28 low- and middle-income countries, using data from the UNICEF 2005 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 3. The sample included 134,290 children, aged 0–4 years, from 100,270 families. Results indicated that maternal education and the country Human Development Index (HDI), an index reflecting the social and economic development of countries, were significant predictors of parents’ caregiving practices and had large effect sizes. Maternal education further moderated the association between the HDI and parents’ caregiving practices. The findings have important implications for supporting quality parenting and for promoting the well-being of young children in low- and middle-income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forecasts of the trajectory of an infectious agent can help guide public health decision making. A traditional approach to forecasting fits a computational model to structured data and generates a predictive distribution. However, human judgment has access to the same data as computational models plus experience, intuition, and subjective data. We propose a chimeric ensemble—a combination of computational and human judgment forecasts—as a novel approach to predicting the trajectory of an infectious agent. Each month from January, 2021 to June, 2021 we asked two generalist crowds, using the same criteria as the COVID-19 Forecast Hub, to submit a predictive distribution over incident cases and deaths at the US national level either two or three weeks into the future and combined these human judgment forecasts with forecasts from computational models submitted to the COVID-19 Forecasthub into a chimeric ensemble. We find a chimeric ensemble compared to an ensemble including only computational models improves predictions of incident cases and shows similar performance for predictions of incident deaths. A chimeric ensemble is a flexible, supportive public health tool and shows promising results for predictions of the spread of an infectious agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forecasts of the trajectory of an infectious agent can help guide public health decision making. A traditional approach to forecasting fits a computational model to structured data and generates a predictive distribution. However, human judgment has access to the same data as computational models plus experience, intuition, and subjective data. We propose a chimeric ensemble-a combination of computational and human judgment forecasts-as a novel approach to predicting the trajectory of an infectious agent. Each month from January, 2021 to June, 2021 we asked two generalist crowds, using the same criteria as the COVID-19 Forecast Hub, to submit a predictive distribution over incident cases and deaths at the US national level either two or three weeks into the future and combined these human judgment forecasts with forecasts from computational models submitted to the COVID-19 Forecasthub into a chimeric ensemble. We find a chimeric ensemble compared to an ensemble including only computational models improves predictions of incident cases and shows similar performance for predictions of incident deaths. A chimeric ensemble is a flexible, supportive public health tool and shows promising results for predictions of the spread of an infectious agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]