Humanizing Dementia: Effects of Counter-Stereotypical Messages on Patronizing Speech toward People with a Stigmatized Health Condition

Patronizing speech and dehumanization both have negative impacts on the health and wellbeing of the recipients of these behaviors. This experiment applied Fiske's stereotype content model, Haslam's dual model of dehumanization, and Hummert's model of patronizing speech to assess the effects of warmth- and competence-enhancing messages about a person with dementia on perceptions of humanness and patronizing speech toward people with dementia. Results supported our predictions that warmth- and competence-enhancing messages would translate into general tendencies to humanize people with dementia as a group. Predicted effects on patronizing communication did not materialize, but there were some unanticipated ways in which warmth- and competence-enhancing messages did influence intentions to use patronizing speech.

Using sport media exposure to promote gender equality: Counter-stereotypical gender perceptions and the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup

By relying on literature on counter-stereotypes and media contact, we investigated whether media exposure is associated with counter-stereotypical gender perceptions. Focusing on the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, we recruited samples ( N = 2,228) from eight competing countries (China, France, Germany, Italy, Scotland, Spain, England, US) across three continents. We hypothesized that exposure to media coverage of the competition’s counter-stereotypical female exemplars would be associated with increased counter-stereotypical perceptions of women. Results revealed that media exposure was associated with greater communion and agency attributed to women. In turn, communion and agency were associated (negatively and positively, respectively) with attribution of stereotypically male abilities (abilities to engage in stereotypically male academic disciplines and jobs) to women compared to men. No effects emerged for perceptions of stereotypically female characteristics. Gender moderated these effects, with associations being stronger among male than among female respondents. Theoretical and practical implications of findings are discussed.

Measuring Covid-related Ageism

Prejudice, discrimination, and negative stereotypes based on age (ageism) are long-standing and strongly implicated in poor health outcomes and limited access to health care for older adults. Recent writings suggest the COVID-19 pandemic raised the specter of ageism to an entirely new level. Do these observations reflect an exaggeration of “usual” ageism or a unique manifestation of intergenerational tension rooted in resentments of younger people concerning COVID-related disruptions in their lives believed to be primarily a function of older people’s vulnerability to the disease phenomenon? To address this question, the purpose of this study was to develop and test an instrument to measure ageist tendencies associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Scale items, written to reflect attitudes about paternalism, inconvenience, and sacrifice, were assessed for content validity. Then the 12-item scale was administered to 227 undergraduate and graduate students in the health and social sciences. Analysis showed items have strong internal consistency and concurrent and discriminant validity. Importantly the scale explained unique variance over and above other standard measures of ageism. Ageism is deeply embedded in global and U.S. culture and strongly related to negative outcomes. This scale will assist researchers investigating the ageist consequences of the current pandemic and help us to monitor what could be long-term residual ageist effects of the COVID pandemic.

Seeking and avoiding contact with Muslims at a Hijab Stall: Evidence for multilayer, multi-determined solidarity, courage, apathy, and moral outrage

Intergroup contact is key to social cohesion, yet psychological barriers block engagement with diversity even when contact opportunities are abundant. We lack an advanced understanding of contact seeking because intergroup contact is often an independent variable in research, and studies on contact seeking have favoured experimental probing of selected factors or measured only broad behavioural intentions. This research carried out the first ecological tests of a novel multilayer-multivariate framework to contact seeking/avoiding. These tests were centred on a Muslim-led community contact-based initiative with visible support from local authorities following a terrorist attack. Non-Muslim Australian women (N = 1,347) contributed field data on their situated contact motivations, choices, and attendance at an intercultural educational stall; many (N = 559) completed a profiling test battery. Among those who responded to the initiative invite, the rate of taking up the high-salience contact opportunity in this heated setting was high and reflected multiple approach/avoidance motivations. Contact seeking/avoiding was not just allophilia/prejudice; it presented as new typologies of politicized solidarity, courage, apathy, and moral outrage. While intergroup predictors were significant across all profiling analyses, intrapersonal and interpersonal predictors also regularly contributed to explain variance in non-Muslims' contact motivations and choices, confirming their multilayer-multivariate nature.

Emotions in Intergroup Contact: Incidental and Integral Emotions' Effects on Interethnic Bias Are Moderated by Emotion Applicability and Subjective Agency

This research draws from three distinct lines of research on the link between emotions and intergroup bias as springboard to integrative, new hypotheses. Past research suggests that emotions extrinsic to the outgroup (or “incidental”), and intrinsic to the outgroup (or “integral”), produce valence-congruent effects on intergroup bias when relevant or “applicable” to the outgroup (e.g., incidental/integral anger and ethnic outgroups). These emotions produce valence incongruent effects when irrelevant or “non-applicable” to the outgroup (e.g., incidental/integral sadness and happiness, and ethnic outgroups). Internally valid and ecologically sound tests of these contrasting effects are missing; hence we examined them experimentally in meaningful settings of interethnic contact. To this end, we hybridized established research paradigms in mood and intergroup contact research; this approach enabled us to use same materials and induction methods to instigate incidental and integral emotions in a single research design. In Experiment 1, White Australian students (N = 93) in in vivo real face-to-face contact with an ethnic tutor in their classroom displayed less interethnic bias when incidentally sad (vs. happy) or integrally happy (vs. sad). In Experiment 2, White American males' (N = 492) anti-Arab bias displayed divergent effects under incidental vs. integral (non-applicable) sadness/happiness and similar effects under incidental vs. integral (applicable) anger. The role of perceptions of agency in the emotion-inducing situation is also explored, tested, and explained drawing from mainstream emotion theory. As expected, integral and incidental applicable emotions caused valence congruent effects, at the opposite sides of the subjective agency spectrum, by encouraging the generalization of dislike from the outgroup contact partner to the outgroup as a whole. On the other hand, incidental-non-applicable emotions caused valence-incongruent effects on bias, under high agency conditions, by encouraging (non-partner-centered) heuristic processing. Because of the improved methodology, these effects can be regarded as genuine and not the byproduct of methodological artifacts. This theory-driven and empirically sound analysis of the interplay between emotion source, emotion applicability and subjective agency in intergroup contact can increase the precision of emotion-based bias reduction strategies by deepening understanding of the emotion conditions that lead to intergroup bias attenuation vs. exacerbation.

Does perceived normativity of intergenerational contact enhance the effects of imagined intergenerational contact?

Two experiments investigated effects of imagined intergroup contact (IIC) on young adults’ stereotypical perceptions of and intention to communicate with older adults. Both studies tested a third-person variant of IIC (extended IIC). Also, Study 1 explicitly manipulated the perceived normativity of intergenerational contact by providing relevant information, and Study 2 implicitly manipulated perceived normativity via task repetition. In Study 1, IIC (including extended IIC) had few effects. However, the explicit norms manipulation changed perceptions of norms, which improved perceptions of older adults and increased desire for future intergenerational communication. In Study 2, some forms of IIC reduced intergenerational anxiety, which translated into more positive intergenerational perceptions. Moreover, repeated IIC had positive effects on intergenerational perceptions that were mediated by perceptions of norms and that persisted for a week. We advocate more attention to the effect of IIC on norms, and to the conditions under which IIC works (and does not).

Social identity motivations and intergroup media attractiveness

In this experiment we manipulated three features (intergroup social comparison, outgroup character stereotypicality, intergroup intimacy) of an intergroup TV pilot proposal. We examined how two underlying social identity motivations (social enhancement, social uncertainty reduction) were gratified by the aforementioned features, and whether this gratification predicted media attractiveness. Findings indicate that when social comparison was manipulated to advantage the ingroup, intergroup media gratified existing social enhancement motivations and led to audiences rating the show as more entertaining and attractive. This finding was most clearly evident in the absence of intergroup romance. The gratification of social uncertainty reduction motivations was also shown to increase audience perceptions of intergroup media attractiveness, but outgroup stereotypicality was weakly associated with the gratification of this motivation. These results are discussed in terms of both theoretical implications as well as applications to media campaigns.

Co-Rumination of Fat Talk and Weight Control Practices: An Application of Confirmation Theory

Grounded in confirmation theory, the current research sought to explore the relationship between co-rumination of fat talk and weight control practices (i.e., binging and purging, exercising, and healthy eating behaviors), with a particular interest in whether perceptions of friends' responses during these interactions exacerbate or mitigate this relationship. Female friendship dyads completed online questionnaires at three time points across 2 weeks. Multilevel modeling analyses revealed that (a) co-rumination was positively associated with binging and purging and exercising, (b) women who perceived their friends as accepting reported less binging and purging, more exercising, and more healthy eating behaviors,

Intergroup Contact and Grandparent–Grandchild Communication: The Effects of Self-Disclosure on Implicit and Explicit Biases Against Older People

This study investigated contact and ageism on both the implicit and the explicit level. We examined the role of grandparent–grandchild communication (in terms of self-disclosure) and its relations to anxiety and empathy in improving intergenerational attitudes. Analyses revealed that: (1) quantity and quality of contact with older people (other than grandparents) predict higher levels of self-disclosure (to one's grandparent); (2) quantity (but not quality) of contact with older people is associated with more favorable implicit associations with them, while quality of contact is associated with more favorable explicit attitudes; and (3) higher levels of self-disclosure to grandparents are associated with empathy and reduced anxiety, which in turn are associated with more positive explicit attitudes toward older adults. We explain our findings in light of the environmental associations model (Karpinsky & Hilton, 2001)—that quantity of contact, or mere exposure to older people, drives the Implicit Association Test effect. The model sheds light on the mediational roles of interpersonal variables (self-disclosure, anxiety, and empathy with a grandparent) in intergenerational contact.

Grandparent-Grandchild Contact and Attitudes Toward Older Adults: Moderator and Mediator Effects

Two studies tested the intergroup contact hypothesis in the context of the grandparent-grandchild relationship. The hypothesis suggests that contact with an out-group member has more influence on attitudes toward the out-group when group memberships are salient. In Study 1, the predicted link was found but only for grandparents with whom the grandchild had more frequent contact. The second study examined only the most frequent grandparent relationship and replicated the effect. This study also investigated the role of various mediators of the link between quality of contact and attitudes, as well as quality of contact and perceived out-group variability. Perspective taking, anxiety, and accommodation mediated the effects of contact on attitudes, whereas individuation and self-disclosure mediated the effects of contact on perceived out-group variability. Moderated mediational analysis indicated that the moderating effect of group salience occurs between quality of contact and the mediator, not between the mediator and attitudes.

An investigation into utilising gestational body mass index as a screening tool for adverse birth outcomes and maternal morbidities in a group of pregnant women in Khayelitsha

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to investigate the ability of the gestational body mass index (BMI) method to screen for adverse birth outcomes and maternal morbidities.

DESIGN

This was a substudy of a randomised controlled trial, the Philani Mentor Mothers' study.

SETTING AND SUBJECTS

The Philani Mentor Mothers' study took place in a peri-urban settlement, Khayelitsha, between 2009 and 2010. Pregnant women living in the area in 2009-2010 were recruited for the study.

OUTCOME MEASURES

Maternal anthropometry (height and weight) and gestational weeks were obtained at baseline to calculate the gestational BMI, which is maternal BMI adjusted for gestational age. Participants were classified into four gestational BMI categories: underweight, normal, overweight and obese. Birth outcomes and maternal morbidities were obtained from clinic cards after the births.

RESULTS

Pregnant women were recruited into the study (n = 1 058). Significant differences were found between the different gestational BMI categories and the following birth outcomes: maternal (p-value = 0.019), infant hospital stay (p-value = 0.03), infants staying for over 24 hours in hospital (p-value = 0.001), delivery mode (p-value = 0.001), birthweight (p-value = 0.006), birth length (p-value = 0.007), birth head circumference (p-value = 0.007) and pregnancy-induced hypertension (p-value = 0.001).

CONCLUSION

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that has used the gestational BMI method in a peri-urban South African pregnant population. Based on the findings that this method is able to identify unfavourable birth outcomes, it is recommended that it is implemented as a pilot study in selected rural, peri-urban and urban primary health clinics, and that its ease and effectiveness as a screening tool is evaluated. Appropriate medical and nutritional advice can then be given to pregnant women to improve both their own and their infants' birth-related outcomes and maternal morbidities.

Intergroup Contact, Prejudicial Attitudes, and Policy Preferences: The Case of the U.S. Military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Policy

Data from 115,052 active United States military personnel were analyzed to explore links between contact with gay people and attitudes about repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Results showed that prejudice against homosexuals significantly mediated the association between contact and supporting repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"; quality of contact in the military was a stronger predictor than other measures of contact. Quality and quantity of contact interacted: more contact quantity had opposing statistical effects on policy attitudes for people experiencing high versus low quality contact. Findings are discussed in terms of contact theory, the association between intergroup attitudes and policy preferences, and practical implications for situations in which groups' access to new positions or roles is limited, and hence contact opportunities are rare.

Global population structure and demographic history of the grey seal

Although the grey seal Halichoerus grypus is one of the most familiar and intensively studied of all pinniped species, its global population structure remains to be elucidated. Little is also known about how the species as a whole may have historically responded to climate-driven changes in habitat availability and anthropogenic exploitation. We therefore analysed samples from over 1500 individuals collected from 22 colonies spanning the Western and Eastern Atlantic and the Baltic Sea regions, represented by 350 bp of the mitochondrial hypervariable region and up to nine microsatellites. Strong population structure was observed at both types of marker, and highly asymmetrical patterns of gene flow were also inferred, with the Orkney Islands being identified as a source of emigrants to other areas in the Eastern Atlantic. The Baltic and Eastern Atlantic regions were estimated to have diverged a little over 10 000 years ago, consistent with the last proposed isolation of the Baltic Sea. Approximate Bayesian computation also identified genetic signals consistent with postglacial population expansion across much of the species range, suggesting that grey seals are highly responsive to changes in habitat availability.

Heterogeneous properties of central lateral and parafascicular thalamic synapses in the striatum

To understand the principles of operation of the striatum it is critical to elucidate the properties of the main excitatory inputs from cortex and thalamus, as well as their ability to activate the main neurons of the striatum, the medium spiny neurons (MSNs). As the thalamostriatal projection is heterogeneous, we set out to isolate and study the thalamic afferent inputs to MSNs using small localized injections of adeno-associated virus carrying fusion genes for channelrhodopsin-2 and YFP, in either the rostral or caudal regions of the intralaminar thalamic nuclei (i.e. the central lateral or parafascicular nucleus). This enabled optical activation of specific thalamic afferents combined with whole-cell, patch-clamp recordings of MSNs and electrical stimulation of cortical afferents, in adult mice. We found that thalamostriatal synapses differ significantly in their peak amplitude responses, short-term dynamics and expression of ionotropic glutamate receptor subtypes. Our results suggest that central lateral synapses are most efficient in driving MSNs to depolarization, particularly those of the direct pathway, as they exhibit large amplitude responses, short-term facilitation and predominantly express postsynaptic AMPA receptors. In contrast, parafascicular synapses exhibit small amplitude responses, short-term depression and predominantly express postsynaptic NMDA receptors, suggesting a modulatory role, e.g. facilitating Ca(2+)-dependent processes. Indeed, pairing parafascicular, but not central lateral, presynaptic stimulation with action potentials in MSNs, leads to NMDA receptor- and Ca(2+)-dependent long-term depression at these synapses. We conclude that the main excitatory thalamostriatal afferents differ in many of their characteristics and suggest that they each contribute differentially to striatal information processing.

(Meta)population dynamics of infectious diseases

The metapopulation concept provides a very powerful tool for analysing the persistence of spatially-disaggregated populations, in terms of a balance between local extinction and colonization. Exactly the same approach has been developed by epidemiologists, in order to understand patterns of diseases persistence. There is great scope for further cross-fertilization between areas. Recent work on the spatitemporal dynamics of measles illustrates that the large datasets and rich modelling literature on many infectious diseases offer great potential for developing and testing ideas about metapopulations.

The Contact Caveat

Contact researchers have largely overlooked the potential for negative intergroup contact to increase prejudice. In Study 1, we tested the interaction between contact quantity and valence on prejudice toward Black Australians ( n = 1,476), Muslim Australians ( n = 173), and asylum seekers ( n = 293). In all cases, the association between contact quantity and prejudice was moderated by its valence, with negative contact emerging as a stronger and more consistent predictor than positive contact. In Study 2, White Americans ( n = 441) indicated how much positive and negative contact they had with Black Americans on separate measures. Although both quantity of positive and negative contact predicted racism and avoidance, negative contact was the stronger predictor. Furthermore, negative (but not positive) contact independently predicted suspicion about Barack Obama’s birthplace. These results extend the contact hypothesis by issuing an important caveat: Negative contact may be more strongly associated with increased racism and discrimination than positive contact is with its reduction.

Geographic variation of the major histocompatibility complex in Eastern Atlantic grey seals (Halichoerus grypus)

Pathogen-driven balancing selection maintains high genetic diversity in many vertebrates, particularly in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) immune system gene family, which is often associated with disease susceptibility. In large natural populations where subpopulations face different pathogen pressures, the MHC should show greater genetic differentiation within a species than neutral markers. We examined genetic diversity at the MHC-DQB locus and nine putatively neutral microsatellite markers in grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) from eight United Kingdom (UK) colonies, the Faeroe Islands and Sable Island, Canada. Five DQB alleles were identified in grey seals, which varied in prevalence across the grey seal range. Among the seal colonies, significant differences in DQB allele and haplotype frequencies and in average DQB heterozygosity were observed. Additionally, the DQB gene exhibited greater differentiation among colonies compared with neutral markers, yet a weaker pattern of isolation by distance (IBD). After correcting for the underlying IBD pattern, subpopulations breeding in similar habitats were more similar to one another in DQB allele frequencies than populations breeding in different habitats, but the same did not hold true for microsatellites, suggesting that habitat-specific pathogen pressure influences MHC evolution. Overall, the data are consistent with selection at MHC-DQB loci in grey seals with both varying selective pressures and geographic population structure appearing to influence the DQB genetic composition of breeding colonies.

Negative intergroup contact makes group memberships salient: explaining why intergroup conflict endures

Drawing from the intergroup contact model and self-categorization theory, the authors advanced the novel hypothesis of a valence-salience effect, whereby negative contact causes higher category salience than positive contact. As predicted, in a laboratory experiment of interethnic contact, White Australians (N = 49) made more frequent and earlier reference to ethnicity when describing their ethnic contact partner if she had displayed negative (vs. positive, neutral) nonverbal behavior. In a two-wave experimental study of retrieved intergenerational contact, American young adults (N = 240) reported age to be more salient during negative (vs. positive) contact and negative contact predicted increased episodic and chronic category salience over time. Some evidence for the reverse salience-valence effect was also found. Because category salience facilitates contact generalization, these results suggest that intergroup contact is potentially biased toward worsening intergroup relations; further implications for theory and policy making are discussed.

College students' multiple stereotypes of lesbians: A cognitive perspective

This paper examines stereotypes of lesbians held by college students. Multiple stereotypes are elicited from a free response trait listing task, followed by a sorting task. The results of the sorting task are submitted to cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling to reveal the complexity of cognitive representations of this group. Eight types are described, reflecting underlying distinctions between positive perceptions (e.g., lipstick lesbian, career-oriented feminist) and negative perceptions (e.g., sexually deviant, angry butch) and also between relative strength and weakness. The research is discussed in terms of cognitive perspectives on stereotyping and gender inversion theory. Suggestions for future research are provided.

Taiwanese Young Adults' Intergenerational Communication Schemas

This study examined intergenerational communication schemas by investigating young adults' cognitive representations of communication with older adults in Taiwan. Forty-one Taiwanese college students described conversations with an older adult in response to a variety of interviewer prompts. Transcripts were read and content analyzed by the first two authors. To capture the characteristics of the conversation descriptions, eleven coding dimensions were generated based on schema theory, and all conversation descriptions were coded along these dimensions. Coding results were submitted to hierarchical cluster analysis, yielding five schemas: Mutually satisfying, helping, mixed feelings, small talk, and mutually unpleasant conversations. Results are discussed in terms of similarities and differences from Harwood, McKee and Lin's (2000) study, schema theory, intergenerational communication, and Chinese cultural norms.

Rapid assessment of well-being: The Short Depression-Happiness Scale (SDHS)

The purpose of this paper was: first, to develop the short six-item form of the Depression-Happiness Scale; and second, to examine evidence of reliability and validity for the short form. Three studies are presented. In the first study, principal components analysis is reported and used to select six items to compose the short form of the scale. In the second study, re-analyses of data from three previous studies are presented which confirm that the short scale has good psychometric properties of internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, and convergent and discriminant validity. In the third study, the short form is found to have a single component structure and convergent validity with measures of depression, happiness and personality.

A hypothesized model of Korean women's responses to abuse

Many abused married Korean women have a strong desire to leave their abusive husbands but remain in the abusive situations because of the strong influence of their sociocultural context. The article discusses Korean women's responses to spousal abuse in the context of patriarchal, cultural, and social exchange theory. Age, education, and income as component elements share common effects on the emergent variable, sociostructural power. Gender role attitudes, traditional family ideology, individualism/collectivism, marital satisfaction, and marital conflict predict psychological-relational power as a latent variable. Sociostructural, patriarchal, cultural, and social exchange theories are reconceptualized to generate the model of Korean women's responses to abuse.

Combining demographic, environmental and genetic data to test hypotheses about colonization events in metapopulations

We describe a method for making inferences about the factors that influence colonization processes in natural populations. We consider the general situation where we have genetic data from a newly colonized population and also from I source populations that may have contributed individuals to the founding group that established the new population. The model assumes that p (biotic/abiotic) factors, G(1), ... ,G(p) may have influenced some individuals in some of the source populations to find a new habitat patch where they could establish a new population. The aim of the method is to determine the composition of the founding group and to ascertain if the aforementioned factors have indeed played a role in the colonization event. We investigate the performance of our method using simulated data sets and illustrate its application with data from the grey seal Halichoerus grypus. These applications demonstrate that the method can identify accurately those factors that are most important for the founding of new populations. This is the case even when genetic differentiation among source populations is low. The estimates of the contribution that each source population makes to the founding groups is somewhat sensitive to the degree of genetic differentiation but it is still possible to identify the sources that are the main contributors to the founding group, even when genetic differentiation is low (F(ST) = 0.01).

Older adults' trait ratings of three age-groups around the Pacific rim

In this paper, we assess the traits that older adults associate with younger, middle-aged, and older adults in five Pacific Rim nations from Western and Eastern cultural traditions (Australia, People's Republic of China (PRC), Hong Kong, Philippines, Thailand). We find cross-cultural trends which replicate patterns found in the US context. In most cultures, attractiveness, strength, activity, liberalism, health, and flexibility are seen to decline with increasing age. Kindness assessments are positively associated with age across cultures. Mixed patterns are found with assessments of wisdom and generosity, with respondents from the PRC and Hong Kong being notably more negative about increasing age than other respondents. Implications for the aging process across cultures are discussed, and suggestions made for future research.

Social identity and health: an intergroup communication approach to cancer

This article describes the ways in which group identifications and stereotypes can inform our understanding of cancer prevention and treatment as well as more general social processes surrounding the experience of cancer. From a perspective grounded in social identity theory, we describe the ways in which understanding primary identities (i.e., those associated with large social collectives such as cultural groups), secondary identities (i.e., those associated with health behaviors), and tertiary identities (i.e., those associated with cancer) can help explain certain cancer-related social processes. We forward a series of propositions to stimulate further research on this topic.

Comparing grandchildren's and grandparents' stake in their relationship

This paper examines the intergenerational stake hypothesis in the grandparent-grandchild relationship. The hypothesis predicts that older generations will perceive more closeness in a relationship than younger generations. Grandparent-grandchild dyads are surveyed concerning various aspects of their relationship. Using measures of closeness and an established typology of grandparent-grandchild relationship style (Cherlin & Furstenberg, 1985), the study finds that grandparents perceive their relationship with their grandchildren to be considerably closer than their grandchildren perceive the relationship. However, their grandchildren perceive the relationship to be more active than their grandparents do. Explanations of these findings consistent with the intergenerational stake hypothesis are advanced. It is found that the two parties often disagree as to the nature of their relationship on the Cherlin and Furstenberg typology. Details of these disagreements are examined in detail, and implications for the grandparent-grandchild relationship are discussed.

Data quality probes--a synergistic method for quality monitoring of electronic medical record data accuracy and healthcare provision

Increasing reliance is being placed on electronic medical records to support clinical care and achieve improved quality standards. In order for clinical information systems (CIS) to deliver, the data within needs to be complete, consistent and accurate. This data of course only forms part of the process in delivering quality health care during the clinician-patient encounter. This paper outlines a method of assessing the quality of the processes involved in healthcare provision and data quality within a CIS. It proposes a principle of Data Quality Probes (DQP) that can be used to assess the performance of the whole encounter system. The main feature of this is the generation of a query which clinical knowledge predicts should not retrieve any cases in a system performing flawlessly. This approach is applied practically within the paradigm of a UK family practice testing the DQP that only patients who have had a hysterectomy should be prescribed unopposed oestrogen hormone replacement therapy.

The rediscovery of Mendelism in agricultural context: Erich von Tschermak as plant-breeder

Why was Mendelism rediscovered? One way in which historians have addressed this issue is to look at wider trends in research during the 1890s of which the rediscoverers were part. Quite a lot is known about one such research tradition, namely the attempts to resolve the question of evolutionary mechanism through the use of varietal crosses. But another relevant research tradition is still largely unknown: the work of commercial breeders, several of whom were using hybridisation by the 1890s. In this paper I begin by looking at Tschermak's initial career, the sequence of events by which he came upon Mendel's work, and why he was excited by what he read. Then I place Tschermak's early work in the context of commercial plant-breeding in German-speaking Europe toward the end of the 19th century. Finally I look again at the question of Tschermak's somewhat ambivalent relationship to Mendelism after 1900. I argue that his initial misunderstanding of the concept of segregation was due to the fact that he approached Mendel's work with the perspective of a breeder rather than that of a geneticist.

Expectations for communication with positive and negative subtypes of older adults

The study uses a recently-developed scale for eliciting perceptions, expectations, and evaluations of intergenerational communication. As predicted, it is found that younger adults expect to experience more anxiety, receive more complaining, and receive lower levels of attunement from an older adult who is portrayed as "despondent" than one who is portrayed as a "perfect grandparent." In addition, younger adults with more negative attitudes toward older adults expect to experience more negative effect, anxiety, and communication apprehension, to feel more compassion for the older adult, and to receive lower levels of attunement and more complaining from the older adult than those with more positive attitudes. Surprisingly, younger adults with higher levels of young age identification expect to experience lower levels of apprehension, more attunement from the older adult, and to feel more compassion for the older adult than those with lower levels of age identity. These findings are discussed in terms of theoretical models of intergenerational communication, in particular the communication predicament model. In addition, younger people's feelings of having "helped" an older person are discussed in the context of intergroup theory.

Oxygen induces fatty acid (n-6)-desaturation independently of temperature in Acanthamoeba castellanii

Induction of a microsomal oleate delta12 (n-6) desaturase which is mainly responsible for an increase in membrane lipid unsaturation at low temperature has been observed in the free-living amoeba Acanthamoeba castellanii. In this study we show that the enzyme can also be regulated by oxygen independently of temperature in batch cultures grown to O2-limitation. Raising the oxygen concentration from below the lower limit of detection (< 0.1 microM) to approximately air-saturation (230 microM), whilst maintaining the growth temperature constant (30 degrees C), increased lipid unsaturation and elevated n-6-desaturase activity 2.3-fold. Addition of the protein synthesis inhibitor, anisomycin, showed that increased desaturase activity was due to new protein synthesis rather than activation of pre-existing enzyme. These observations are important for future studies of the mechanism of temperature adaptation in poikilotherms.

Factors affecting levels of genetic diversity in natural populations

Genetic variability is the clay of evolution, providing the base material on which adaptation and speciation depend. It is often assumed that most interspecific differences in variability are due primarily to population size effects, with bottlenecked populations carrying less variability than those of stable size. However, we show that population bottlenecks are unlikely to be the only factor, even in classic case studies such as the northern elephant seal and the cheetah, where genetic polymorphism is virtually absent. Instead, we suggest that the low levels of variability observed in endangered populations are more likely to result from a combination of publication biases, which tend to inflate the level of variability which is considered 'normal', and inbreeding effects, which may hasten loss of variability due to drift. To account for species with large population sizes but low variability we advance three hypotheses. First, it is known that certain metapopulation structures can result in effective population sizes far below the census size. Second, there is increasing evidence that heterozygous sites mutate more frequently than equivalent homozygous sites, plausibly because mismatch repair between homologous chromosomes during meiosis provides extra opportunities to mutate. Such a mechanism would undermine the simple relationship between heterozygosity and effective population size. Third, the fact that related species that differ greatly in variability implies that large amounts of variability can be gained or lost rapidly. We argue that such cases are best explained by rapid loss through a genome-wide selective sweep, and suggest a mechanism by which this could come about, based on forced changes to a control gene inducing coevolution in the genes it controls. Our model, based on meiotic drive in mammals, but easily extended to other systems, would tend to facilitate population isolation by generating molecular incompatabilities. Circumstances can even be envisioned in which the process could provide intrinsic impetus to speciation.