SUNY Plattsburgh

A social-psychological model is developed to examine the proposition that environmentalism represents a new way of thinking. It presumes that action in support of environmental quality may derive from any of three value orientations: egoistic, social-altruistic, or biospheric, and that gender may be implicated in the relation between these orientations and behavior. Behavioral intentions are modeled as the sum across values of the strength of a value times the strength of beliefs about the consequences of environmental conditions for valued objects. Evidence from a survey of 349 college students shows that beliefs about consequences for each type of valued object independently predict willingness to take political action, but only beliefs about consequences for self reliably predict willingness to pay through taxes. This result is consistent with other recent findings from contingent valuation surveys. Women have stronger beliefs than men about consequences for self, others, and the biosphere, but there is no gender difference in the strength of value orientations.

Discoveries in environmental science become the raw material for constructing social attitude objects, individual attitudes, and broad public concerns. We explored a model in which individuals construct attitudes to new or emergent attitude objects by referencing personal values and beliefs about the consequences of the objects for their values. We found that a subset of the major clusters identified in value theory is associated with willingness to take proenvironmental action; that a biospheric value orientation cannot yet be discerned in a general population sample; that willingness to take proenvironmental action is a function of both values and beliefs, with values also predicting beliefs; and that gender differences can be attributed to both beliefs and values. Our model has promise for explicating the factors determining public concern with environmental conditions.

UNLABELLED: Multiple linkages connect air quality and climate change. Many air pollutant sources also emit carbon dioxide (CO2), the dominant anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG). The two main contributors to non-attainment of U.S. ambient air quality standards, ozone (O3) and particulate matter (PM), interact with radiation, forcing climate change. PM warms by absorbing sunlight (e.g., black carbon) or cools by scattering sunlight (e.g., sulfates) and interacts with clouds; these radiative and microphysical interactions can induce changes in precipitation and regional circulation patterns. Climate change is expected to degrade air quality in many polluted regions by changing air pollution meteorology (ventilation and dilution), precipitation and other removal processes, and by triggering some amplifying responses in atmospheric chemistry and in anthropogenic and natural sources. Together, these processes shape distributions and extreme episodes of O3 and PM. Global modeling indicates that as air pollution programs reduce SO2 to meet health and other air quality goals, near-term warming accelerates due to "unmasking" of warming induced by rising CO2. Air pollutant controls on CH4, a potent GHG and precursor to global O3 levels, and on sources with high black carbon (BC) to organic carbon (OC) ratios could offset near-term warming induced by SO2 emission reductions, while reducing global background O3 and regionally high levels of PM. Lowering peak warming requires decreasing atmospheric CO2, which for some source categories would also reduce co-emitted air pollutants or their precursors. Model projections for alternative climate and air quality scenarios indicate a wide range for U.S. surface O3 and fine PM, although regional projections may be confounded by interannual to decadal natural climate variability. Continued implementation of U.S. NOx emission controls guards against rising pollution levels triggered either by climate change or by global emission growth. Improved accuracy and trends in emission inventories are critical for accountability analyses of historical and projected air pollution and climate mitigation policies. IMPLICATIONS: The expansion of U.S. air pollution policy to protect climate provides an opportunity for joint mitigation, with CH4 a prime target. BC reductions in developing nations would lower the global health burden, and for BC-rich sources (e.g., diesel) may lessen warming. Controls on these emissions could offset near-term warming induced by health-motivated reductions of sulfate (cooling). Wildfires, dust, and other natural PM and O3 sources may increase with climate warming, posing challenges to implementing and attaining air quality standards. Accountability analyses for recent and projected air pollution and climate control strategies should underpin estimated benefits and trade-offs of future policies.

This paper examines approaches to the formation of organizational climate. Three perspectives appearing in the literature the structural, the perceptual, and the interactive are identified and examined. Additionally, a perspective termed the "cultural approach" is developed. This approach posits that organizational climate arises from the intersubjectivity of members as they interact within a context established by an organization's culture. A definition of organizational climate, informed by this approach, is presented. Finally, distinctions between organizational climate and organizational culture are examined.

As part of the International Sexuality Description Project, a total of 17,804 participants from 62 cultural regions completedthe RelationshipQuestionnaire(RQ), a self-reportmeasure of adult romanticattachment. Correlational analyses within each culture suggested that the Model of Self and the Model of Other scales of the RQ were psychometrically valid within most cultures. Contrary to expectations, the Model of Self and Model of Other dimensions of the RQ did not underlie the four-category model of attachment in the same way across all cultures. Analyses of specific attachment styles revealed that secure romantic attachment was normative in 79% of cultures and that preoccupied romantic attachment was particularly prevalent in East Asian cultures. Finally, the romantic attachment profiles of individual nations were correlated with sociocultural indicators in ways that supported evolutionary theories of romantic attachment and basic human mating strategies.

A method is described whereby a sequence of X-ray images at closely spaced photon energies is acquired using a scanning transmission X-ray microscope, and aligned. Near-edge absorption spectra can then be obtained both from large, irregular regions, and from regions as small as the spatial resolution of the microscope (about 40 nm in the examples shown here). The use of the technique is illustrated in examination of a layered polymer film, a micrometeorite section, and an interplanetary dust particle section.

This article reviews the research on differential recognition for own-versus other-race faces. A meta-analysis of 14 samples revealed that the magnitude of the own-race bias is similar for both Black and White subjects, accounting for about 10o of the variance in recognition accuracy. There is a considerable consistency across studies, indicating that memory for own-race faces is superior to memory for other-race faces. Both Black and White subjects exhibited own-race bias in 79%0 of the samples reviewed.

The separation between the aP and PP resonances in the NMR spectrum of intracellular ATP may be used to measure the fraction of total ATP that is complexed to M&+ and, thereby, to estimate the level of free M&+ i n intact cells (Gupta, R.

This article reviews Joe Zhu’s book, “Quantitative Models for Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking: Data Envelopment Analysis with Spreadsheets,” now in its third edition and published by Springer. <b>TOPICS:</b>Statistical methods, performance measurement

This article reports the results from a large-scale study of littering behavior. Findings are reported from coded observations of the littering behavior among 9,757 individuals at 130 outdoor public locations in the United States. The focus was on littering behavior of any item, but a separate sample is also reported on the littering behavior of only smokers. For smokers, the observed littering rate for cigarette butts was 65%. Results from the general littering observations showed that of all the disposal behaviors observed, 17% resulted in litter. Statistical analyses using multilevel modeling showed that age (negatively) was predictive of individual littering. At the level of the site, the presence of existing litter (positively) and the availability of trash receptacles (negatively) predicted littering. Supplemental analyses showed that among individuals who disposed of an item, distance to the receptacle was positively predictive of littering. Implications for litter prevention strategies are discussed.

Abstract A relatively new field in provenance analysis is detrital fission-track thermochronology which utilizes grain ages from sediment shed off an orogen to elucidate its exhumational history. Four examples highlight the approach and usefulness of the technique. (1) Fission-track grain age (FTGA) distribution of apatite from modern sediment of the Bergell region of the Italian Alps corresponds to ages obtained from bedrock studies. Two distinct peak-age populations at 14.8 Ma and 19.8 Ma give calculated erosion rates identical to in situ bedrock. (2) Zircon FTGA distribution from the modern Indus River in Pakistan is used to estimate the mean erosion rate for the Indus River drainage basin to be about 560 m Ma −1 , but locally it is in excess of 1000 m Ma −1 . (3) FTGA distribution of detrital apatite and zircon from the Tofino basin records exhumation of the Coast Mountains in the Canadian Cordillera. Comparison of detrital zircon and apatite FT ages gives exhumation rates of c. 200 m Ma −1 during the interval between c. 34 and 54 Ma, but higher rates ( c. 1500 m Ma −1 ) at c. 56 Ma. (4) FTGA analysis of apatite grain ages from a young basin flanking Fiordland in New Zealand indicates that removal of cover strata was followed by profound exhumation at c. 30 Ma, which corresponds to plate reorganization at this time. Exhumation rates at the onset of exhumation were c. 2000–5000 m Ma −1 . These studies outline the technique of detrital FTGA applied to exhumation studies and highlight practical considerations: (1) well-dated, stratigraphically coordinated suites of samples that span the exhumation event provide the best long-term record; (2) strata from the basin perimeter are the most likely to retain unreset detrital ages; (3) the removal of ‘cover rocks’ precedes exhumation of deeply buried rocks, which retain a thermal signal of the exhumation event; (4) steady-state exhumation produces peak ages that progressively young with time and have a constant lag time; (5) same-sample comparison of zircon and apatite peak ages is best in sequences with high-uranium apatite grains (&gt;50 ppm), and peak-ages statistics can be improved by counting numerous apatite grains (&gt;100).

IL-1β is a cytokine critical to several inflammatory diseases in which pathogenic Th17 responses are implicated. Activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome by microbial and environmental stimuli can enable the caspase-1-dependent processing and secretion of IL-1β. The acute-phase protein serum amyloid A (SAA) is highly induced during inflammatory responses, wherein it participates in systemic modulation of innate and adaptive immune responses. Elevated levels of IL-1β, SAA, and IL-17 are present in subjects with severe allergic asthma, yet the mechanistic relationship among these mediators has yet to be identified. In this study, we demonstrate that Saa3 is expressed in the lungs of mice exposed to several mixed Th2/Th17-polarizing allergic sensitization regimens. SAA instillation into the lungs elicits robust TLR2-, MyD88-, and IL-1-dependent pulmonary neutrophilic inflammation. Furthermore, SAA drives production of IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-23, and PGE(2), causes dendritic cell (DC) maturation, and requires TLR2, MyD88, and the NLRP3 inflammasome for secretion of IL-1β by DCs and macrophages. CD4(+) T cells polyclonally stimulated in the presence of conditioned media from SAA-exposed DCs produced IL-17, and the capacity of polyclonally stimulated splenocytes to secrete IL-17 is dependent upon IL-1, TLR2, and the NLRP3 inflammasome. Additionally, in a model of allergic airway inflammation, administration of SAA to the lungs functions as an adjuvant to sensitize mice to inhaled OVA, resulting in leukocyte influx after Ag challenge and a predominance of IL-17 production from restimulated splenocytes that is dependent upon IL-1R signaling.

Earth's subsurface offers one of the best possible sites to search for microbial life and the characteristic lithologies that life leaves behind. The subterrain may be equally valuable for astrobiology. Where surface conditions are particularly hostile, like on Mars, the subsurface may offer the only habitat for extant lifeforms and access to recognizable biosignatures. We have identified numerous unequivocally biogenic macroscopic, microscopic, and chemical/geochemical cave biosignatures. However, to be especially useful for astrobiology, we are looking for suites of characteristics. Ideally, "biosignature suites" should be both macroscopically and microscopically detectable, independently verifiable by nonmorphological means, and as independent as possible of specific details of life chemistries--demanding (and sometimes conflicting) criteria. Working in fragile, legally protected environments, we developed noninvasive and minimal impact techniques for life and biosignature detection/characterization analogous to Planetary Protection Protocols. Our difficult field conditions have shared limitations common to extraterrestrial robotic and human missions. Thus, the cave/subsurface astrobiology model addresses the most important goals from both scientific and operational points of view. We present details of cave biosignature suites involving manganese and iron oxides, calcite, and sulfur minerals. Suites include morphological fossils, mineral-coated filaments, living microbial mats and preserved biofabrics, 13C and 34S values consistent with microbial metabolism, genetic data, unusual elemental abundances and ratios, and crystallographic mineral forms.

A key problem facing aggression research is how to measure individual differences in aggression accurately and efficiently without sacrificing reliability or validity. Researchers are increasingly demanding brief measures of aggression for use in applied settings, field studies, pretest screening, longitudinal, and daily diary studies. The authors selected the three highest loading items from each of the Aggression Questionnaire's (Buss & Perry, 1992) four subscales--Physical Aggression, Verbal Aggression, anger, and hostility--and developed an efficient 12-item measure of aggression--the Brief Aggression Questionnaire (BAQ). Across five studies (N = 3,996), the BAQ showed theoretically consistent patterns of convergent and discriminant validity with other self-report measures, consistent four-factor structures using factor analyses, adequate recovery of information using item response theory methods, stable test-retest reliability, and convergent validity with behavioral measures of aggression. The authors discuss the reliability, validity, and efficiency of the BAQ, along with its many potential applications.

Infrared spectral properties of silicate grains in interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) were compared with those of astronomical silicates. The approximately 10-micrometer silicon-oxygen stretch bands of IDPs containing enstatite (MgSiO3), forsterite (Mg2SiO4), and glass with embedded metal and sulfides (GEMS) exhibit fine structure and bandwidths similar to those of solar system comets and some pre-main sequence Herbig Ae/Be stars. Some GEMS exhibit a broad, featureless silicon-oxygen stretch band similar to those observed in interstellar molecular clouds and young stellar objects. These GEMS provide a spectral match to astronomical "amorphous" silicates, one of the fundamental building blocks from which the solar system is presumed to have formed.

We measured the elemental compositions of material from 23 particles in aerogel and from residue in seven craters in aluminum foil that was collected during passage of the Stardust spacecraft through the coma of comet 81P/Wild 2. These particles are chemically heterogeneous at the largest size scale analyzed ( approximately 180 ng). The mean elemental composition of this Wild 2 material is consistent with the CI meteorite composition, which is thought to represent the bulk composition of the solar system, for the elements Mg, Si, Mn, Fe, and Ni to 35%, and for Ca and Ti to 60%. The elements Cu, Zn, and Ga appear enriched in this Wild 2 material, which suggests that the CI meteorites may not represent the solar system composition for these moderately volatile minor elements.

The goal of this article is to provide specific guidelines to help create effective proenvironmental public service announcements (PSAs). Campaigndesigners are encouraged to initially identify and investigate the optimal target audience and then draft and test reactions by samples of that audience using pilot messages. Designers are also advised to consider research on attitude persistence, memory, and social norms and apply this research to the message content and presentation style. The article concludes with an application of research from social psychology to a series of overallguidelines for effective PSAs. If environmental campaign developers follow these specifications, the chance of PSA success should be enhanced.

Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic heavy metal that can contribute to numerous diseases as well as increased mortality. Diet is the primary source of Cd exposure for most individuals, yet little is known about the foods and food groups that contribute most substantially to dietary Cd intake in the US. Therefore, the objective of this study was to estimate dietary Cd intake and identify major food sources of Cd in the US population and among subgroups of the population. Individuals aged 2 years and older from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007–2012 were included in this study (n = 12,523). Cd intakes were estimated from two days of 24-h dietary recalls by matching intake data with the Cd database of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s Total Diet Study 2006 through 2013. The average dietary Cd consumption in the population was 4.63 μg/day, or 0.54 μg/kg body weight/week, which is 22% of the tolerable weekly intake (TWI) of 2.5 μg/kg body weight/week. Greater daily Cd intakes were observed in older adults, males, those with higher income, higher education, or higher body mass index. The highest Cd intakes on a body weight basis were observed in children 10 years and younger (38% of TWI), underweight individuals (38% of TWI), and alcohol non-consumers (24% of TWI). The food groups that contributed most to Cd intake were cereals and bread (34%), leafy vegetables (20%), potatoes (11%), legumes and nuts (7%), and stem/root vegetables (6%). The foods that contributed most to total Cd intake were lettuce (14%), spaghetti (8%), bread (7%), and potatoes (6%). Lettuce was the major Cd source for Caucasians and Blacks, whereas tortillas were the top source for Hispanics, and rice was the top contributor among other ethnic subgroups including Asians. This study provides important information on the dietary Cd exposure of Americans, and identifies the groups with the greatest dietary Cd exposure as well as the major sources of dietary Cd among sociodemographic subgroups.

Failing to recognize someone or misidentifying someone can have important personal and social consequences. The perceiver may suffer feelings of embarrassment or stupidity. The target may feel insulted, stereotyped, or in extreme cases may be falsely identified as a criminal. If the perceiver and the target are of different ethnic groups, misidentification can increase intergroup hostility, stereotyping, and intergroup anxiety. Laboratory and field research demonstrates an own‐race bias in recognition accuracy. People are better able to identify members of their own race than members of another race. The significance of own‐race bias in the criminal justice system and intergroup contact situations is reviewed, and cognitive and motivational correlates of own‐race bias are discussed. Four possible explanations for this differential recognition effect are presented. The explanation derived from intergroup contact theory—that differential recognition stems from limited experience with members of other groups—has received surprisingly weak research support thus far, Greater attention to assessing different types of contact may increase our understanding of the ways in which intergroup contact can affect intergroup perceptions.

Seven particles captured by the Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector and returned to Earth for laboratory analysis have features consistent with an origin in the contemporary interstellar dust stream. More than 50 spacecraft debris particles were also identified. The interstellar dust candidates are readily distinguished from debris impacts on the basis of elemental composition and/or impact trajectory. The seven candidate interstellar particles are diverse in elemental composition, crystal structure, and size. The presence of crystalline grains and multiple iron-bearing phases, including sulfide, in some particles indicates that individual interstellar particles diverge from any one representative model of interstellar dust inferred from astronomical observations and theory.