Deportation threat predicts Latino US citizens and noncitizens' psychological distress, 2011 to 2018

The national context of deportation threat, defined as the federal government's approach to deportation and/or deportation's salience to the US public, fluctuated between 2011 and 2018. US Latinos across citizenship statuses may have experienced growing psychological distress associated with these changes, given their disproportionate personal or proximal vulnerabilities to deportation. Drawing on 8 y of public- and restricted-access data from the National Health Interview Survey (2011 to 2018), this article examines trends in psychological distress among Latinos who are US-born citizens, naturalized citizens, and noncitizens. It then seeks to explain these trends by considering two theoretical pathways through which the national context of deportation threat could distress Latinos: 1) through discrete dramatic societal events that independently signal a change to the country's approach to deportation and/or that render deportation temporarily more salient to the public or 2) through more gradual changes to the country's everyday institutional (i.e., quotidian efforts to detain and deport noncitizens) and social (i.e., deportation's ongoing salience to a concerned public) environment of deportation threat. We find that, though both pathways matter to some degree, there is more consistent evidence that the gradual changes are associated with Latino US citizens and noncitizens' overall experiences of psychological distress. The article highlights how, even absent observable spillover effects of dramatic societal events bearing on deportation threat, the institutional and social environment in which they occur implicates Latinos' well-being.

Identities, drinking behaviors and cancer beliefs among African-American and White American adults: A qualitative analysis

BACKGROUND

Alcohol consumption is causally linked to multiple cancers. African-Americans are at greater risk of cancer than other demographic groups and suffer more serious consequences. Awareness and knowledge of the alcohol-cancer link are low, especially among African-Americans compared to other racial/ethnic groups. This study built on the theory of identity-based motivation (TIBM) to explore how people think about alcohol consumption in relation to their social identities and beliefs about cancer.

METHODS

Data come from 20 in-depth interviews with current drinkers (10 White and 10 African-American adults) in a major mid-Atlantic city in the summer of 2021, using race- and gender-concordant interviewers. An abductive and iterative approach identified salient themes about how drinkers thought about alcohol, social identities, and cancer.

RESULTS

While most participants discussed alcohol use as an important part of American culture, African-American participants were more likely to discuss drinking as a way to cope with racism and other hardships. Participants also noted the need to address structural issues that would make it difficult to cut back on drinking. Both White and African-American participants talked about stressors in life that drive them to drink and make cutting back difficult, and African-American participants discussed how the location of liquor stores in their neighborhoods made alcohol too readily available.

CONCLUSIONS

Insights from these interviews confirm the relevance of racial and other identities in shaping responses to alcohol-cancer messaging, and emphasize the need to consider both behavior change and policy change to create supportive environments for such changes.

Social Media Campaigns to Influence Alcohol Consumption and Related Harms, Attitudes, and Awareness: A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVE

Given social media's reach and potential, a systematic review is needed to assess their effectiveness in influencing alcohol consumption and related harms, attitudes, and awareness.

METHOD

We searched 12 databases from inception to December 2022, along with reference lists of eligible studies. We included studies of any design conducted in any country, reported in English, evaluating campaigns using social media alone or in combination with other media. We assessed study quality, extracted data, and completed a narrative synthesis.

RESULTS

Eleven of 6,442 unique studies met inclusion criteria, spanning 17 countries, targeting diverse populations, and predominantly using repeated cross-sectional study designs. Most were of weak quality. Only three studies evaluated campaigns relying solely or primarily on social media. Two drink-driving campaigns had no behavioral impact, whereas two others found behavior change. Two of three studies targeting college student drinking found significant reductions in drinking after the campaign, but a third detected no differences in quality or duration of drinking. Only one study measured changes in attitudes, finding that the campaign significantly increased policy support for key alcohol policies. All studies noted awareness, but only six quantified short-term measures, showing increased campaign awareness.

CONCLUSIONS

It is unclear from the peer-reviewed literature whether public health-oriented social media campaigns can influence alcohol consumption and related harms, attitudes, and/or awareness. Our review nevertheless indicates that social media campaigns offer potential in some populations to influence these outcomes. There is an urgent need for the public health field to test and rigorously evaluate social media's utility as a vehicle for influencing population-level alcohol consumption and related problems, attitudes, and awareness.

Measurement of Direct-Photon Cross Section and Double-Helicity Asymmetry at sqrt[s]=510 GeV in p[over →]+p[over →] Collisions

We present measurements of the cross section and double-helicity asymmetry A_{LL} of direct-photon production in p[over →]+p[over →] collisions at sqrt[s]=510  GeV. The measurements have been performed at midrapidity (|η|<0.25) with the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. At relativistic energies, direct photons are dominantly produced from the initial quark-gluon hard scattering and do not interact via the strong force at leading order. Therefore, at sqrt[s]=510  GeV, where leading-order-effects dominate, these measurements provide clean and direct access to the gluon helicity in the polarized proton in the gluon-momentum-fraction range 0.02<x<0.08, with direct sensitivity to the sign of the gluon contribution.

Strategic Messaging to Promote Policies that Advance Racial Equity: What Do We Know, and What Do We Need to Learn?

Policy Points Many studies have explored the impact of message strategies to build support for policies that advance racial equity, but few studies examine the effects of richer stories of lived experience and detailed accounts of the ways racism is embedded in policy design and implementation. Longer messages framed to emphasize social and structural causes of racial inequity hold significant potential to enhance support for policies to advance racial equity. There is an urgent need to develop, test, and disseminate communication interventions that center perspectives from historically marginalized people and promote policy advocacy, community mobilization, and collective action to advance racial equity.

CONTEXT

Long-standing racial inequities in health and well-being are shaped by racialized public policies that perpetuate disadvantage among Black, Brown, Indigenous, and people of color. Strategic messaging can accelerate public and policymaker support for public policies that advance population health. We lack a comprehensive understanding of lessons learned from work on policy messaging to advance racial equity and the gaps in knowledge it reveals.

METHODS

A scoping review of peer-reviewed studies from communication, psychology, political science, sociology, public health, and health policy that have tested how various message strategies influence support and mobilization for racial equity policy domains across a wide variety of social systems. We used keyword database searches, author bibliographic searches, and reviews of reference lists from relevant sources to compile 55 peer-reviewed papers with 80 studies that used experiments to test the effects of one or more message strategies in shaping support for racial equity-related policies, as well as the cognitive/emotional factors that predict their support.

FINDINGS

Most studies report on the short-term effects of very short message manipulations. Although many of these studies find evidence that reference to race or use of racial cues tend to undermine support for racial equity-related policies, the accumulated body of evidence has generally not explored the effects of richer, more nuanced stories of lived experience and/or detailed historical and contemporary accounts of the ways racism is embedded in public policy design and implementation. A few well-designed studies offer evidence that longer-form messages framed to emphasize social and structural causes of racial inequity can enhance support for policies to advance racial equity, though many questions require further research.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude by laying out a research agenda to fill numerous wide gaps in the evidentiary base related to building support for racial equity policy across sectors.

How Do People Come to Judge What Is "Reasonable"? Effects of Legal and Sociological Systems on Human Psychology

How do people decide what is reasonable? People often have to make those judgments, judgments that can influence tremendously consequential decisions-such as whether to indict someone in a legal proceeding. In this article, we take a situated cognition lens to review and integrate findings from social psychology, judgment and decision-making, communication, law, and sociology to generate a new framework for conceptualizing judgments of reasonableness and their implications for how people make decisions, particularly in the context of the legal system. We theorize that differences in structural and social contexts create information asymmetries that shape people's priors about what is and is not reasonable and how they update their priors in the face of new information. We use the legal system as a context for exploring the implications of the framework for both individual and collective decision-making and for considering the practical implications of the framework for inequities in law and social policy.

Climate change and health equity: A research agenda for psychological science

Climate change poses unique and substantial threats to public health and well-being, from heat stress, flooding, and the spread of infectious disease to food and water insecurity, conflict, displacement, and direct health hazards linked to fossil fuels. These threats are especially acute for frontline communities. Addressing climate change and its unequal impacts requires psychologists to consider temporal and spatial dimensions of health, compound risks, as well as structural sources of vulnerability implicated by few other public health challenges. In this review, we consider climate change as a unique context for the study of health inequities and the roles of psychologists and health care practitioners in addressing it. We conclude by discussing the research infrastructure needed to broaden current understanding of these inequities, including new cross-disciplinary, institutional, and community partnerships, and offer six practical recommendations for advancing the psychological study of climate health equity and its societal relevance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

What would make cognitive science more useful?

What would make cognitive science more useful? In this essay, I argue that the cognitive sciences could advance theories and be more useful to society if they devoted more effort to conducting research in ways that include a more diverse set of participants and stakeholders than they have historically.

Local TV News Coverage of Racial Disparities in COVID-19 During the First Wave of the Pandemic, March-June 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted health and social outcomes for people of color in the United States. This study examined how local TV news stories attributed causes and solutions for COVID-19-related racial health and social disparities, and whether coverage of such disparities changed after George Floyd's murder, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. We systematically validated keywords to extract relevant news content and conducted a content analysis of 169 discrete local TV news stories aired between March and June 2020 from 80 broadcast networks within 22 purposefully selected media markets. We found that social determinants of COVID-19 related racial disparities have been part of the discussion in local TV news, but racism as a public health crisis was rarely mentioned. Coverage of racial disparities focused far more attention on physical health outcomes than broader social impacts. Stories cited more structural factors than individual factors, as causes of these disparities. After the murder of George Floyd, stories were more likely to mention Black and Latinx people than other populations impacted by COVID-19. Only 9% of local news stories referenced racism, and stories referenced politicians more frequently than public health experts.

The Pandemic as a Portal: Reimagining Psychological Science as Truly Open and Inclusive

Psychological science is at an inflection point: The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated inequalities that stem from our historically closed and exclusive culture. Meanwhile, reform efforts to change the future of our science are too narrow in focus to fully succeed. In this article, we call on psychological scientists-focusing specifically on those who use quantitative methods in the United States as one context for such conversations-to begin reimagining our discipline as fundamentally open and inclusive. First, we discuss whom our discipline was designed to serve and how this history produced the inequitable reward and support systems we see today. Second, we highlight how current institutional responses to address worsening inequalities are inadequate, as well as how our disciplinary perspective may both help and hinder our ability to craft effective solutions. Third, we take a hard look in the mirror at the disconnect between what we ostensibly value as a field and what we actually practice. Fourth and finally, we lead readers through a roadmap for reimagining psychological science in whatever roles and spaces they occupy, from an informal discussion group in a department to a formal strategic planning retreat at a scientific society.

What counts as good science? How the battle for methodological legitimacy affects public psychology

Part of the "boundary work" (Gieryn, 1983) throughout the history of psychology has been to divide the discipline into camps of "basic" and "applied" researchers who take different methodological approaches to construct knowledge. Each "side" has come up with different processes for conceptualizing, constructing, and evaluating the legitimacy of knowledge claims, processes that have implications for applying research insights to practical issues in society. In this article, I review and synthesize research on the history of knowledge construction in both basic and applied psychology, and the implications of their respective methodological practices for their perceived legitimacy. I then discuss how the lessons learned from the past can be leveraged to address the current crisis of confidence in the "credibility revolution" era (Vazire, 2018), as well as the field's perceived legitimacy to external stakeholders. Finally, I end with recommendations for structural changes to improve the credibility and legitimacy of our field's findings as well as their relevance for achieving our public psychology goals. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Probing Gluon Spin-Momentum Correlations in Transversely Polarized Protons through Midrapidity Isolated Direct Photons in p^{↑}+p Collisions at sqrt[s]=200 GeV

Studying spin-momentum correlations in hadronic collisions offers a glimpse into a three-dimensional picture of proton structure. The transverse single-spin asymmetry for midrapidity isolated direct photons in p^{↑}+p collisions at sqrt[s]=200  GeV is measured with the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). Because direct photons in particular are produced from the hard scattering and do not interact via the strong force, this measurement is a clean probe of initial-state spin-momentum correlations inside the proton and is in particular sensitive to gluon interference effects within the proton. This is the first time direct photons have been used as a probe of spin-momentum correlations at RHIC. The uncertainties on the results are a 50-fold improvement with respect to those of the one prior measurement for the same observable, from the Fermilab E704 experiment. These results constrain gluon spin-momentum correlations in transversely polarized protons.

The Behavior of Same-Race Others and Its Effects on Black Patients' Attention to Publicly Presented HIV-Prevention Information

Black Americans make up 13% of the U.S. population, yet account for 54% of HIV deaths and 44% of new HIV diagnoses. Why do Black Americans die from HIV at such a disproportionate rate? In the current study, we asked whether the presence and behavior of in-group peers in public health settings may influence Black Americans' attention to HIV information, given the racialized nature of HIV-stigma in Black American communities. In a quasi-experimental field study conducted in a public health clinic (N = 260), we found that Black patients were less likely to pay attention to HIV-prevention information in the presence of other Black patients, unless those patients were also paying attention to the information. In contrast, Black patients' attention was unaffected by the presence of White patients. We end by discussing the implications of these findings for health communication theories and health practice geared toward reducing racial-health disparities in the United States.

When the Going Gets Tough, How Do We Perceive the Future?

People struggle to stay motivated to work toward difficult goals. Sometimes the feeling of difficulty signals that the goal is important and worth pursuing; other times, it signals that the goal is impossible and should be abandoned. In this article, we argue that how difficulty is experienced depends on how we perceive and experience the timing of difficult events. We synthesize research from across the social and behavioral sciences and propose a new, integrated model to explain how components of time perception interact with interpretations of experienced difficulty to influence motivation and goal-directed behavior. Although these constructs have been studied separately in previous research, we suggest that these factors are inseparable and that an integrated model will help us to better understand motivation and predict behavior. We conclude with new empirical questions to guide future research and by discussing the implications of this research for both theory and intervention practice.

The Double-Edged Sword of Loyalty

Loyalty has long been associated with being moral and upstanding, but recent research has begun documenting how loyalty can lead people to do unethical things. Here we offer an integrative perspective on loyalty and its outcomes. We suggest that a variety of bottom-up and top-down psychological processes lead individuals to be loyal to people and organizations they have obligations to, and that these processes operate in ways that reduce the cognitive dissonance experienced when loyalties conflict with each other or with other moral principles. In this article, we articulate what loyalty is, describe the typical objects of loyalty, explain the mental processes involved in navigating loyalty dilemmas, and end by offering an integrative perspective that illuminates why loyalty leads to both ethical and unethical outcomes and when each type of outcome is likely to occur.

Changing Perceptions around Nontraditional Career Trajectories in Psychological Science

In a tightening job market, early-career researchers may consider employment opportunities outside academia. Yet there is the widespread belief that such employment experience is perceived negatively by academic hiring committees. Changing perceptions and practices around this issue would benefit these researchers and the field of psychology as a whole.

Do We Report the Information That Is Necessary to Give Psychology Away? A Scoping Review of the Psychological Intervention Literature 2000-2018

Psychologists are spending a considerable amount of time researching and developing interventions in hopes that their efforts can help to tackle some of society's pressing problems. Unfortunately, those hopes are often not realized-many interventions are developed and reported in journals but do not make their way into the broader world they were designed to change. One potential reason for this is that there may be a gap between the information reported in articles and the information others, such as practitioners, need to implement the findings. We explored this possibility in the current article. We conducted a scoping review to assess the extent to which the information needed for implementation is reported in psychological intervention articles. Results suggest psychological intervention articles report, at most, 64% of the information needed to implement interventions. We discuss the implications of this for both psychological theories and applying them in the world.

Communicating What We Know and What Isn't So: Science Communication in Psychology

The field of psychology has a long history of encouraging researchers to disseminate their findings to the broader public. This trend has continued in recent decades in part because of professional psychology organizations reissuing calls to "give psychology away." This recent wave of calls to give psychology away is different because it has been occurring alongside another movement in the field-the credibility revolution in which psychology has been reckoning with metascientific questions about what exactly psychologists know. This creates a dilemma for the modern psychologist: How is one to "give psychology away" if one is unsure about what is known or what one has to give? In the current article, we discuss strategies for navigating this tension by drawing on insights from the interdisciplinary fields of science communication and persuasion and social influence.

Plasma temperature measurement with a silicon photomultiplier (SiPM)

The temperature of a nonneutral plasma confined in a Penning-Malmberg trap can be determined by slowly lowering one side of the trap's electrostatic axial confinement barrier; the temperature is inferred from the rate at which particles escape the trap as a function of the barrier height. In many experiments, the escaping particles are directed toward a microchannel plate, and the resulting amplified charge is collected on a phosphor screen. The screen is used for imaging the plasma but can also be used as a Faraday cup (FC) for a temperature measurement. The sensitivity limit is then set by microphonic noise enhanced by the screen's high-voltage bias. Alternately, a silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) can be employed to measure the charge via the light emitted from the phosphor screen. This decouples the signal from the microphonic noise and allows the temperature of colder and smaller plasmas to be measured than could be measured previously; this paper focuses on the advantages of a SiPM over a FC.

Using qualitative approaches to improve quantitative inferences in environmental psychology

This article describes the qualitative approach used to generate and interpret the quantitative study reported by Song and colleagues' (2020) in their article, "What counts as an 'environmental' issue? Differences in environmental issue conceptualization across race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status." Song and colleagues (2020) describe the results of a survey documenting that, in the United States, White and high-SES respondents perceive environmental issues differently than their non-White and lower-SES counterparts, reflecting structural differences in environmental risks. While Song and colleagues (2020) discuss the survey results in detail, the discussion of the qualitative research that led to the creation of that survey was limited due to space constraints. The current article provides a more holistic account of the methods behind the Song and colleagues (2020) study by discussing the qualitative component of the research in detail. In addition to discussing how the qualitative research complements and critically informs the findings reported by Song et al., we also consider the broader implications and value of integrating qualitative and quantitative methods in environmental psychology.•Conduct qualitative study to inform quantitative design.•Use qualitative patterns to make inferences about quantitative indicators.

Who Comes to Mind? Dynamic Construction of Social Networks

Much remains unknown about moment-to-moment social-network cognition—that is, who comes to mind as we go about our day-to-day lives. Responding to this void, we describe the real-time construction of cognitive social networks. First, we outline the types of relational structures that comprise momentary networks, distinguishing the roles of personal relationships, social groups, and mental sets. Second, we discuss the cognitive mechanisms that determine which individuals are activated—and which are neglected—through a dynamic process. Looking forward, we contend that these overlooked mechanisms need to be considered in light of emerging network technologies. Finally, we chart the next steps for understanding social-network cognition across real-world contexts, along with the built-in implications for social resources and intergroup disparities.

Nuclear Dependence of the Transverse Single-Spin Asymmetry in the Production of Charged Hadrons at Forward Rapidity in Polarized p+p, p+Al, and p+Au Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV

We report on the nuclear dependence of transverse single-spin asymmetries (TSSAs) in the production of positively charged hadrons in polarized p^{↑}+p, p^{↑}+Al, and p^{↑}+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV. The measurements have been performed at forward rapidity (1.4<η<2.4) over the range of transverse momentum (1.8<p_{T}<7.0  GeV/c) and Feynman x (0.1<x_{F}<0.2). We observed positive asymmetries for positively charged hadrons in p^{↑}+p collisions, and significantly reduced asymmetries in p^{↑}+A collisions. These results reveal a nuclear dependence of TSSAs for charged-hadron production in a regime where perturbative techniques are applicable. These results provide new opportunities to use p^{↑}+A collisions as a tool to investigate the rich phenomena behind TSSAs in hadronic collisions and to use TSSAs as a new handle in studying small-system collisions.

Beam Energy and Centrality Dependence of Direct-Photon Emission from Ultrarelativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions

The PHENIX collaboration presents first measurements of low-momentum (0.4<p_{T}<3  GeV/c) direct-photon yields from Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=39 and 62.4 GeV. For both beam energies the direct-photon yields are substantially enhanced with respect to expectations from prompt processes, similar to the yields observed in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200. Analyzing the photon yield as a function of the experimental observable dN_{ch}/dη reveals that the low-momentum (>1  GeV/c) direct-photon yield dN_{γ}^{dir}/dη is a smooth function of dN_{ch}/dη and can be well described as proportional to (dN_{ch}/dη)^{α} with α≈1.25. This scaling behavior holds for a wide range of beam energies at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and the Large Hadron Collider, for centrality selected samples, as well as for different A+A collision systems. At a given beam energy, the scaling also holds for high p_{T} (>5  GeV/c), but when results from different collision energies are compared, an additional sqrt[s_{NN}]-dependent multiplicative factor is needed to describe the integrated-direct-photon yield.

Many Labs 2: Investigating Variation in Replicability Across Samples and Settings

We conducted preregistered replications of 28 classic and contemporary published findings, with protocols that were peer reviewed in advance, to examine variation in effect magnitudes across samples and settings. Each protocol was administered to approximately half of 125 samples that comprised 15,305 participants from 36 countries and territories. Using the conventional criterion of statistical significance ( p < .05), we found that 15 (54%) of the replications provided evidence of a statistically significant effect in the same direction as the original finding. With a strict significance criterion ( p < .0001), 14 (50%) of the replications still provided such evidence, a reflection of the extremely high-powered design. Seven (25%) of the replications yielded effect sizes larger than the original ones, and 21 (75%) yielded effect sizes smaller than the original ones. The median comparable Cohen’s ds were 0.60 for the original findings and 0.15 for the replications. The effect sizes were small (< 0.20) in 16 of the replications (57%), and 9 effects (32%) were in the direction opposite the direction of the original effect. Across settings, the Q statistic indicated significant heterogeneity in 11 (39%) of the replication effects, and most of those were among the findings with the largest overall effect sizes; only 1 effect that was near zero in the aggregate showed significant heterogeneity according to this measure. Only 1 effect had a tau value greater than .20, an indication of moderate heterogeneity. Eight others had tau values near or slightly above .10, an indication of slight heterogeneity. Moderation tests indicated that very little heterogeneity was attributable to the order in which the tasks were performed or whether the tasks were administered in lab versus online. Exploratory comparisons revealed little heterogeneity between Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) cultures and less WEIRD cultures (i.e., cultures with relatively high and low WEIRDness scores, respectively). Cumulatively, variability in the observed effect sizes was attributable more to the effect being studied than to the sample or setting in which it was studied.

Pseudorapidity Dependence of Particle Production and Elliptic Flow in Asymmetric Nuclear Collisions of p+Al, p+Au, d+Au, and ^{3}He+Au at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV

Asymmetric nuclear collisions of p+Al, p+Au, d+Au, and ^{3}He+Au at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV provide an excellent laboratory for understanding particle production, as well as exploring interactions among these particles after their initial creation in the collision. We present measurements of charged hadron production dN_{ch}/dη in all such collision systems over a broad pseudorapidity range and as a function of collision multiplicity. A simple wounded quark model is remarkably successful at describing the full data set. We also measure the elliptic flow v_{2} over a similarly broad pseudorapidity range. These measurements provide key constraints on models of particle emission and their translation into flow.

Measurements of Multiparticle Correlations in d+Au Collisions at 200, 62.4, 39, and 19.6 GeV and p+Au Collisions at 200 GeV and Implications for Collective Behavior

Recently, multiparticle-correlation measurements of relativistic p/d/^{3}He+Au, p+Pb, and even p+p collisions show surprising collective signatures. Here, we present beam-energy-scan measurements of two-, four-, and six-particle angular correlations in d+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200, 62.4, 39, and 19.6 GeV. We also present measurements of two- and four-particle angular correlations in p+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV. We find the four-particle cumulant to be real valued for d+Au collisions at all four energies. We also find that the four-particle cumulant in p+Au has the opposite sign as that in d+Au. Further, we find that the six-particle cumulant agrees with the four-particle cumulant in d+Au collisions at 200 GeV, indicating that nonflow effects are subdominant. These observations provide strong evidence that the correlations originate from the initial geometric configuration, which is then translated into the momentum distribution for all particles, commonly referred to as collectivity.

Nuclear Dependence of the Transverse-Single-Spin Asymmetry for Forward Neutron Production in Polarized p+A Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV

During 2015, the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) provided collisions of transversely polarized protons with Au and Al nuclei for the first time, enabling the exploration of transverse-single-spin asymmetries with heavy nuclei. Large single-spin asymmetries in very forward neutron production have been previously observed in transversely polarized p+p collisions at RHIC, and the existing theoretical framework that was successful in describing the single-spin asymmetry in p+p collisions predicts only a moderate atomic-mass-number (A) dependence. In contrast, the asymmetries observed at RHIC in p+A collisions showed a surprisingly strong A dependence in inclusive forward neutron production. The observed asymmetry in p+Al collisions is much smaller, while the asymmetry in p+Au collisions is a factor of 3 larger in absolute value and of opposite sign. The interplay of different neutron production mechanisms is discussed as a possible explanation of the observed A dependence.

When Does the Future Begin? Time Metrics Matter, Connecting Present and Future Selves

People assume they should attend to the present; their future self can handle the future. This seemingly plausible rule of thumb can lead people astray, in part because some future events require current action. In order for the future to energize and motivate current action, it must feel imminent. To create this sense of imminence, we manipulated time metric—the units (e.g., days, years) in which time is considered. People interpret accessible time metrics in two ways: If preparation for the future is under way (Studies 1 and 2), people interpret metrics as implying when a future event will occur. If preparation is not under way (Studies 3–5), they interpret metrics as implying when preparation should start (e.g., planning to start saving 4 times sooner for a retirement in 10,950 days instead of 30 years). Time metrics mattered not because they changed how distal or important future events felt (Study 6), but because they changed how connected and congruent their current and future selves felt (Study 7).

Asthma in children with sickle cell disease and its association with acute chest syndrome

BACKGROUND

Pulmonary complications are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in sickle cell disease (SCD). The relationship of asthma with SCD and acute chest syndrome (ACS) remains uncertain. A study was undertaken to test the hypotheses that asthma and bronchial hyperreactivity (BHR) are more common in children with SCD than in ethnic matched controls and that SCD children with atopic asthma are more likely to have recurrent episodes of ACS.

METHODS

A modified International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire was administered and skin prick tests undertaken in 80 children with SCD and 80 ethnic matched controls aged 5-10 years. BHR was assessed by measurement of forced expiratory volume in 1 second before and after a bronchodilator (albuterol 200 mug) or an exercise challenge.

RESULTS

Asthma (48% v 22%, p = 0.002) and BHR (p = 0.02) but not atopy were more common in children with SCD than in controls. Atopy (66.6% v 29%, p = 0.007) and asthma (80% v 40%, p = 0.005), particularly atopic asthma (53% v 12%, p<0.001), were more common in children with SCD who had suffered recurrent episodes of ACS than in those who had suffered a single or no episode.

CONCLUSIONS

Asthma and BHR are more common in children with SCD than in ethnic matched controls, and atopic asthma appears to be associated with recurrent ACS. Early and effective anti-asthma therapy might reduce the pulmonary morbidity associated with SCD.

Activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase in A549 lung carcinoma cells by sodium dichromate: role of dissociation of apoptosis signal regulating kinase-1 from its physiological inhibitor thioredoxin

Changes in the components of the Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signalling pathway were investigated in human A549 lung carcinoma cells treated with sodium dichromate. Sodium dichromate (100 microM, 0-6h) failed to activate nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) as determined by a lack of nuclear translocation of p65 but resulted in Jun N-terminal kinase activation as assessed by phospho-Jun N-terminal kinase Western blotting in a dose-dependent (>25 microM) and time-dependent (>1h) manner. In addition, c-Jun, a downstream target of Jun N-terminal kinase signalling was also activated with a similar dose- and time-dependency at the level of both protein expression and degree of phosphorylation. In contrast, sodium dichromate treatment had no effect on levels of phospho-p38. Immunoprecipitation demonstrated that apoptosis signal regulating kinase-1 (ASK-1), an upstream activator of Jun N-terminal kinase was dissociated from its inhibitory partner thioredoxin (Trx) in response to sodium dichromate (100 microM, 4h) treatment. This treatment was also associated with a transient (2h) increase in cytosolic levels of thioredoxin but no nuclear translocation of thioredoxin was observed. In conclusion, sodium dichromate had a stimulatory effect on the Jun N-terminal kinase signalling pathway in A549 cells, resulting in activation of downstream effector molecules. We hypothesise that dissociation of apoptosis signal regulating kinase-1 from thioredoxin may be at least partially responsible for Jun N-terminal kinase activation.