BackgroundDue to causing inability of self-regulation and executive functions such as directed attention and visual searching for relevant information, mental fatigue impairs skilled performance in various sports. On the other hand, natural scenes could improve directed attention, which may considerably benefit visual searching ability and self-regulation. However, nature exposure as a potential intervention to improve skilled performance among mentally fatigued athletes has not been discussed thoroughly.PurposeTo propose the potential intervention for the impairment of skilled performance among mentally fatigued athletes (...) and generate a framework for future studies.MethodsA narrative review was applied to search broadly across disciplines, retrieving literature from several databases.ResultsThirty-three works of literature including 39 experiments were obtained. Finally, a conceptual framework was built regarding the effect of nature exposure intervention on skilled performance in athletes for future studies.ConclusionThree theories could be potentially integrated to be a conceptual framework and explain the mechanism of preventing prior mental exertion. Future studies could examine more on the duration of the intervention. (shrink)

John Russon draws from a broad range of art and literature to show how philosophy speaks to the most basic and important questions in our everyday lives. In Sites of Exposure, Russon grapples with how personal experiences such as growing up and confronting death combine with broader issues such as political oppression, economic exploitation, and the destruction of the natural environment to make life meaningful. His is cutting-edge philosophical work, illuminated by original and rigorous thinking that relies on cross-cultural (...) communication and engagement with the richness of human cultural history. These probing interpretations of the nature of phenomenology, the philosophy of art, history, and politics, are appropriate for students and scholars of philosophy at all levels. (shrink)

The use of philosophy in educational programmes and practices under such names as philosophy for children, philosophy with children, or the community of philosophical enquiry, has become well established in many countries around the world. The main attraction of the educational use of philosophy seems to lie in the claim that it can help children and young people to develop skills for thinking critically, reflectively and reasonably. By locating the acquisition of such skills within communities of enquiry, the further claim (...) is that engagement with philosophy can foster the development of moral reflection and sensitivity and of social and democratic skills more generally. Claims like these provide a set of arguments for the inclusion of philosophy in the school curriculum that goes well beyond philosophy as just another curricular subject or body of knowledge. The aim of this article is to raise some questions about the conception of education that appears to inform the discussion about the educational use of philosophy. My ambition is to suggest an additional rather than an alternative view about the educational use of philosophy in the hope that this may act as a reminder of a different way in which one can engage with philosophy in educational settings which, in turn, might also act as a reminder of how philosophy might engage with us. The philosophical distinction in which my argument is phrased is that between humanism and post-humanism and the guiding educational concept is that of exposure. (shrink)

This paper uses computational experiments to explore the role of exposure in the emergence of construction grammars. While usage-based grammars are hypothesized to depend on a learner’s exposure to actual language use, the mechanisms of such exposure have only been studied in a few constructions in isolation. This paper experiments with (i) the growth rate of the constructicon, (ii) the convergence rate of grammars exposed to independent registers, and (iii) the rate at which constructions are forgotten when (...) they have not been recently observed. These experiments show that the lexicon grows more quickly than the grammar and that the growth rate of the grammar is not dependent on the growth rate of the lexicon. At the same time, register-specific grammars converge onto more similar constructions as the amount of exposure increases. This means that the influence of specific registers becomes less important as exposure increases. Finally, the rate at which constructions are forgotten when they have not been recently observed mirrors the growth rate of the constructicon. This paper thus presents a computational model of usage-based grammar that includes both the emergence and the unentrenchment of constructions. (shrink)

This study focused on the effects of individual characteristics and exposure to ethics education on perceptions of the linkage between organizational ethical practices and business outcomes. Using a stratified sampling approach, 817 students were randomly selected from a population of approximately 1310 business students in an AACSB accredited college of business. Three hundred and twenty eight of the subjects were freshmen, 380 were seniors, and 109 were working managers and professionals enrolled in a night-time MBA program. Overall, the respondents (...) included 438 male students and 379 female students. Exposure to ethics in the curriculum had a significant impact on student perceptions of what should be the ideal linkages between organizational ethical practices and business outcomes. Gender based differences were found with female students having a higher expectation regarding what should be the “ethics practices and business outcomes” link. Exposure to ethics in the curriculum had a positive moderating influence on the gender-based effects on perceptions of ideal ethical climate. The interaction effect showed that exposure to ethical education may have a positive impact on males and allow them to catch up with females in their ethical sensitivities concerning the ideal linkage between organizational ethical behavior and business outcomes. Further, consistent with the literature, the study found that gender differences in ethical attitudes regarding the ideal ethical climate, while significant for undergraduates, appeared to narrow considerably for the working professionals who were part-time MBA students. (shrink)

The last few years have seen dramatic progress in the development of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). These developments have been met by ethical concerns. HIV interventions are often thought to be ethically difficult. In a context which includes disagreements over human rights, controversies over testing policies, and questions about sexual morality and individual responsibility, PrEP has been seen as an ethically complex intervention. We argue that this is mistaken, and that in fact, PrEP does not raise new ethical concerns. (...) Some of the questions posed by PrEP are not specific to HIV prophylaxis, but simply standard public health considerations about resource allocation and striking a balance between individual benefit and public good. We consider sexual disinhibition in the context of private prescriptions, and conclude that only unjustified AIDS-exceptionalism or inappropriate moralism about sex supports thinking that PrEP raises new ethical problems. This negative conclusion is significant in a context where supposed ethical concerns about PrEP have been raised, and in the context of HIV exceptionalism. (shrink)

Mere exposure, generally, entails influences of familiarity manipulations on affective dependent variables. Previously (Phaf & Rotteveel, 2005), we have argued that familiarity corresponds intrinsically to positive affect, and have extended the correspondence to novelty and negative affect. Here, we present two experiments that show reverse effects of affective manipulations on perceived familiarity. In Experiment 1 affectively valenced exteroceptive cues of approach and avoidance (e.g., apparent movement) modulated recognition bias of neutral targets. This finding suggests that our correspondence hypotheses can (...) be generalised to an important aspect of emotion, namely approach and avoidance tendencies. In Experiment 2 participants? emotional mood was manipulated within the Jacoby?Whitehouse paradigm and a pattern of results was obtained as if consciousness was manipulated. We interpret the latter results within the affective modulation framework (AMF), which postulates facilitation of nonconscious processing by positive affect and an enhancement of conscious processing by negative affect. (shrink)

This book explores the possible relations between Western types of rationality and Buddhism. It also examines some cliche;s about Buddhism and questions the old antinomies of Western culture (“faith and reason,” or “idealism and materialism”). The use of the Buddhist notion of the Two Truths as a hermeneutic device leads to a double or multiple exposure that will call into question our mental habits and force us to ask questions differently, to think “in a new key.” Double Exposure (...) is somewhat of an oddity. Written by a specialist for nonspecialists, it is not a book of vulgarization. Although it aims at a better integration of Western and Buddhist thought, it is not an exercise in comparative philosophy or religion. It is neither a contribution to Buddhist scholarship in the narrow sense, nor a contribution to some vague Western “spirituality.” Cutting across traditional disciplines and blurring established genres, it provides a leisurely but deeply insightful stroll through philosophical and literary texts, dreams, poetry, and paradoxes. (shrink)

We previously showed that the illusory sense of ownership and agency over a moving body in immersive virtual reality can trigger subjective and physiological reactions on the real subject’s body and, therefore, an acute improvement of cognitive functions after a single session of high-intensity intermittent exercise performed exclusively by one’s own virtual body, similar to what happens when we actually do physical activity. As well as confirming previous results, here, we aimed at finding in the elderly an increased improvement after (...) a longer virtual training with similar characteristics. Forty-two healthy older subjects completed a parallel-group randomized controlled trial including an adapted version of the virtual training previously used: while sitting, participants observed the virtual body in a first-person perspective or a third-person perspective performing 20 min of virtual high-intensity intermittent exercise. This was repeated twice a week for 6 weeks. During the vHIE, we measured the heart rate and administered questionnaires to evaluate illusory body ownership and agency. Before the beginning of the intervention, immediately after the first session of vHIE, and at the end of the entire intervention, we evaluated the cognitive performance at the Stroop task with online recording of the hemodynamic activity over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. While we confirm previous results regarding the virtual illusion and its physiological effects, we did not find significant cognitive or neural improvement immediately after the first vHIE session. As a novelty, in the 1PP group only, we detected a significant decrease in the response time of the Stroop task in the post-intervention assessment compared to its baseline; coherently, we found an increased activation on left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex after the entire intervention. While the current results strengthen the impact of the virtual full-body illusion and its physiological consequences on the elderly as well, they might have stronger and more established body representations. Perhaps, a longer and increased exposure to those illusions is necessary to initiate the cascade of events that culminates to an improved cognitive performance. (shrink)

Heidegger's reflections on grace culminate in the years 1949-54 where grace names a figure for the ineluctable exposure of existence. Heidegger rethinks the relationship between what exists and the world in which it is found as one that is always open to grace. For Heidegger, this world is what he terms the “dimension” between earth and sky. The relationship is only possible where existence is no longer construed as a self-contained presence but instead is thought as something between presence (...) and absence. In this essay, Heidegger's references to grace in five contexts are considered: the 1949 Bremen lectures, the 1951 essay “... Poetically Dwells Man...,” the 1953 “Dialogue on Language,” the 1951 lecture on “Language,” and the 1954 speech at his nephew's ordination. (shrink)

An implicit goal of many interventions intended to enhance integrity is to minimize peoples' exposure to unethical events. The intent of the present effort was to examine if exposure to unethical practices in the course of one's work is related to ethical decision making. Accordingly, 248 doctoral students in the biological, health, and social sciences were asked to complete a field appropriate measure of ethical decision making. In addition, they were asked to complete measures examining the perceived acceptability (...) of unethical events and a measure examining perceptions of ethical climate. When these criterion measures were correlated with a measure examining the frequency with which they had been exposed to unethical events in their day-to-day work, it was found that event exposure was strongly related to ethical decision making but less strongly related to climate perceptions and perceptions of event acceptability. However, these relationships were moderated by level of experience. The implications of these findings for practices intended to improve ethics are discussed. (shrink)

One fundamental assumption often made in the literature on unawareness is that risk preferences are invariant to changes of awareness. We study how exposure to unawareness affects choices under risk. Participants in our experiment choose repeatedly between varying sure outcomes and a lottery in three phases. All treatments are exactly identical in phase 1 and phase 3, but differ in phase 2. There are five different treatments pertaining to the lottery faced in phase 2: The control treatment, the treatment (...) with awareness of unawareness of lottery outcomes but known number of outcomes, the treatment with awareness of unawareness of outcomes but with unknown number of outcomes, the treatment with unawareness of unawareness of some outcomes, and the treatment with an ambiguous lottery. We study both whether behavior differs in phase 3 across treatments and whether differences of subjects’ behavior between phases 1 and phase 3 differ across treatments. We observe no significant treatment effects. (shrink)

In three experiments, picture quality between test items was manipulated to examine whether subjects’ expectations about the fluency normally associated with these different stimuli might influence the effects of fluency on preference or familiarity-based recognition responses. The results showed that fluency due to pre-exposure influenced responses less when objects were presented with high picture quality, suggesting that attributions of fluency to preference and familiarity are adjusted according to expectations about the different test pictures. However, this expectations influence depended on (...) subjects’ awareness of these different quality levels. Indeed, imperceptible differences seemed not to induce expectations about the test item fluency. In this context, fluency due to both picture quality and pre-exposure influenced direct responses. Conversely, obvious, and noticed, differences in test picture quality did no affect responses, suggesting that expectations moderated attributions of fluency only when fluency normally associated with these different stimuli was perceptible but difficult to assess. (shrink)

Accounts of sexual experience, sexual oppression, and sexual violation, if they are not to lend support to the problems they are invoked to address, require the foundation of a phenomenological description of the character of experience. Relying on Maurice Merleau-Ponty, I aim to provide this foundation, arguing that sexual experience is a domain not of detached, individual autonomy but of intrinsic susceptibility and exposure to the world. My description of sexual experience is intended to reveal the immanent norms that (...) sexuality projects and thereby to critique ways of inhabiting experience that disavow what is revealed in that description. The first section discerns three ambiguities that characterize our experience in Merleau-Ponty's notion of “flesh”: that between materiality and meaning, self and others, and self and world. The second section offers a phenomenology of sexual experience based on these ambiguities. The third section, on sexual oppression and suppression, identifies two stereotypical ways in which they are evaded: what I call the stances of “withdrawal from” and “control of” sexuality as flesh. Finally, the fourth section reveals the shortcomings of the legal-juridical domain in navigating our status as flesh, and warns against the proliferation of its terms, specifically the norm of consent. (shrink)

Exposure is key element of photography as well as in the relationship between the category of regime and the subjects it entails. This article sets out to re-examine the characteristics of exposure across these different contexts and on the basis of Jean-Luc Nancy’s thought. The article focuses on the relation between the practice of photography and civil actions pursued by human rights organizations. Combining theoretical ­considerations, analysis of photographs and interviews with human rights workers, the article points to (...) the key role that exposure plays in civic action and seeks to articulate its complexity. Adopting an ­interdisciplinary methodology, the article argues that exposure is no simple relation between an ‘exposer’ and that which is ‘exposed’, but, rather, that as a process exposure reveals complex social political dynamics which defy ­conventional binary determinations of such relations. (shrink)

In three experiments, picture quality between test items was manipulated to examine whether subjects’ expectations about the fluency normally associated with these different stimuli might influence the effects of fluency on preference or familiarity-based recognition responses. The results showed that fluency due to pre-exposure influenced responses less when objects were presented with high picture quality, suggesting that attributions of fluency to preference and familiarity are adjusted according to expectations about the different test pictures. However, this expectations influence depended on (...) subjects’ awareness of these different quality levels. Indeed, imperceptible differences seemed not to induce expectations about the test item fluency. In this context, fluency due to both picture quality and pre-exposure influenced direct responses. Conversely, obvious, and noticed, differences in test picture quality did no affect responses, suggesting that expectations moderated attributions of fluency only when fluency normally associated with these different stimuli was perceptible but difficult to assess. (shrink)

Wearing facial masks became a common practice worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study investigated (1) whether facial masks that cover adult faces affect 4- to 6-year-old children’s recognition of emotions in those faces and (2) whether the duration of children’s exposure to masks is associated with emotion recognition. We tested children from Switzerland (N = 38) and Brazil (N = 41). Brazil represented longer mask exposure due to a stricter mandate during COVID-19. Children had to choose a (...) face displaying a specific emotion (happy, angry, or sad) when the face wore either no cover, a facial mask, or sunglasses. The longer hours of mask exposure were associated with better emotion recognition. Controlling for the hours of exposure, children were less likely to recognise emotions in partially hideen faces. Moreover, Brazilian children were more accurate in recognising happy faces than Swiss children. Overall, facial masks may negatively impact children’s emotion recognition. However, prolonged exposure appears to buffer the lack of facial cues from the nose and mouth. In conclusion, restricting facial cues due to masks may impair kindergarten children’s emotion recognition in the short run. However, it may facilitate their broader reading of facial emotional cues in the long run. (shrink)

The relationship between exposure to prosocial media content and prosocial behavior has been extensively explored. However, previous studies mainly explore the effect of prosocial media content exposure by comparing an individual’s exposure to the different types of content, and generally focus on traditional media and video games, with less attention given to the increasingly popular new media platforms. In this study, we explored new dimensions by considering individuals’ exposure to different consequences of the same prosocial behavior (...) in the context of short videos. Drawing upon Social Cognitive Theory and the General Learning Model, this experimental study identified the effect of such exposure on subsequent prosocial behavior among adolescents. We found that compared to the no consequences group, exposure to the reward consequence did not significantly predict moral elevation and subsequent prosocial behavior. Meanwhile, exposure to the punishment consequence had a significantly negative effect on subsequent prosocial behavior via moral elevation. Furthermore, the results revealed that empathy moderated the relationship between moral elevation and prosocial behavior, and moral elevation only positively predicted prosocial behavior among those with low empathy. Theoretically, this study deepens our understanding of the impact of exposure to different consequences of prosocial behavior on adolescents’ subsequent prosocial behavior, and highlights the importance of moral elevation and empathy to understand the underlying mechanism. The study also provides some practical implications for parents and practitioners to nurture prosocial behavior among adolescents. (shrink)

IntroductionThe present study investigates the association of lifetime interpersonal violence exposure, related posttraumatic stress disorder, and appraisal of the degree of threat posed by facial avatars.MethodsWe recorded self-rated responses and high-density electroencephalography among women, 16 of whom with lifetime IPV-PTSD and 14 with no PTSD, during a face-evaluation task that displayed male face avatars varying in their degree of threat as rated along dimensions of dominance and trustworthiness.ResultsThe study found a significant association between lifetime IPV exposure, under-estimation of (...) dominance, and over-estimation of trustworthiness. Characterization of EEG microstates supported that lifetime IPV-PTSD modulates emotional appraisal, specifically in encoding and decoding processing associated with N170 and LPP evoked potentials. EEG source localization demonstrated an overactivation of the limbic system, in particular the parahippocampal gyrus, in response to non-threatening avatars. Additionally, dysfunctional involvement of attention-related processing anterior prefrontal cortex was found in response to relatively trustworthy avatars in IPV-PTSD individuals compared with non-PTSD controls.DiscussionThis study showed that IPV exposure and related PTSD modulate individuals’ evaluation of facial characteristics suggesting threat. Atypical processing of these avatar characteristics was marked by group differences in brain regions linked to facial processing, emotion regulation, and memory. (shrink)

Post-exposure prophylaxis in the form of combination drug therapy is now recommended for healthcare workers following occupational HIV exposure. The expansion of this form of preventive medicine to include other types of HIV transmission, notably through sexual activity, raises a number of ethical concerns.

"American Exposures sheds light on photographs, from Arthur Mole's propagandistic 'living photographs' of American icons and symbols to the exploration of contemporary subcultural communities by the Korean-born photographer and performance ...

Repetition learning is an efficient way to enhance memory performance in our daily lives and educational practice. However, it is unclear to what extent repetition or multiple exposures modulate different types of memory over time. The inconsistent findings on it may be associated with encoding strategy. In this study, participants were presented with pairs of pictures once or three times and were asked to make a same/similar/different judgment. By this, an elaborative encoding is more required for the “same” and “similar” (...) conditions than the “different” condition. Then after intervals of 10 min, 1 day, and 1 week, they were asked to perform a recognition test to discriminate a repeated and a similar picture, followed by a remember/know/guess assessment and a contextual judgment. The results showed that after learning the objects three times, both item memory and contextual memory improved. Multiple exposures enhanced the hit rate for the “same” and “similar” conditions, but did not change the false alarm rate significantly. The recollection, rather than the familiarity, contributed to the repetition effect. In addition, the memory enhancement was manifested in each encoding condition and retention interval, especially for the “same” condition and at 10-min and 1-day intervals. These results clarify how repetition influences item and contextual memories during discriminative learning and suggest that multiple exposures render the details more vividly remembered and retained over time when elaborative encoding is emphasized. (shrink)

Secrets of exposure revealed, with a bonus color checker card included Exposure is the number one topic that digital photographers want to know about. This full-color book fits in your camera bag and provides all the information you need on this very important aspect of digital photography. Exposure involves combining ISO, aperture, and shutter speed in different variations to accomplish your vision of the perfect image. Exposure Digital Field Guide takes you through the complex techniques of (...) good exposure, taking you from hobbyist to serious amateur photographer. Explains how to adjust shutter speed and aperture to control the amount of light hitting the camera's light sensor Teaches you how to "see the light" for the perfect exposure Helps you gain confidence as you move from automatic controls into manipulating the elements of exposure for specific results Packed with stunning full-color photographs to illustrate what you can achieve Provides suggested settings for various shooting situations and subjects Includes a tear-out color checker card to help you maintain true color Fits in your camera bag for ready reference in the field Exposure Digital Field Guide helps you master one of the most complex and intricate elements of digital photography. (shrink)

Following Professor Obiora Ike’s view and in particular Obiora 2012, 2013, 2017 (see reference below), the more students are exposed to ethics practice, the greater their propensity and capability to seek for ethical living. This important assumption is worth close statistical scrutiny as the author shows. Through empirical researches and the stratified sampling approach, 435 university students are randomly selected to illustrate this claim. The method used is the “Perceived Role of Ethics and Democracy Outcome Scale” (PREDOS) and a survey (...) questionnaire used to measure exposure to common good ethics among the respondents. Descriptive analysis – tables and analysis and covariance (ANCOVA), are aimed at facilitating the analysis of the data collected in the study. In tandem with the conclusions drawn from extant literature and works of Professor Obiora Ike, the findings, as the author see, show that exposure to common good ethics has a significant positive effect on students’ ethics practice and democracy outcomes. (shrink)

Master exposure and enhance your professionalism Since the first edition of this book, camera technology has seen dramatic improvements. Light, however, hasn't changed—nor has the importance of just the right exposure.

Growing numbers of women in militaries worldwide, coupled with vast segments of women within war-affected populations globally, raise questions about gender as it structures trauma exposure, posttraumatic stress disorder, and other mental health consequences of war. In this study, we investigate the gendered associations between early-life wartime stress exposures and PTSD symptoms in older adulthood using data from the 2018 Vietnam Health and Aging Study, a unique data set documenting multiple dimensions of health and wartime stress exposures within a (...) sample of older adults who occupied diverse roles during the American war in Vietnam. Our results indicate that the severity of recent PTSD symptoms is significantly and positively associated with the severity of wartime stress exposure among both men and women. Vietnamese men’s social positions, particularly their predominance in combat, exposed them to more numerous war-related stressors. However, Vietnamese women experience a greater PTSD penalty associated with some wartime stress exposures, likely due to the burden of protecting family in wartime and incorporation into military and paramilitary roles with lesser preparation, training, and support than men. We conclude that women who survive major wars, both as soldiers and civilians, bear a significant burden of armed conflict’s lasting toll upon mental health. (shrink)

This paper shows that epidemiology, an approach developed to study the social communication of biological information, can be instructively applied to the diffusion of "endemic" cultural beliefs. In particular, I examine whether exposure to information, or susceptibility to belief is more important in determining the distribution of food taboos in an oral society from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Matrix regression techniques are used on optimally scaled cultural similarity data to infer which social and psychological characteristics of the participating (...) individuals are correlated with a higher probability of taboo transmission between them. Results indicate that, despite a lack of mechanized transportation, access to information in this population is nearly universal. Constraints on belief adoption rather than on information flow are much more important in determining the intra-cultural distribution of food taboos. At least for one class of taboo, belief susceptibility is a function of an individual's social role rather than any intrinsic quality of the individual or the believability of the cultural trait. Nevertheless, the processes underlying the dissemination of both cultural traits and pathogens, considered as replicating units of information, appear close enough to justify using epidemiology as a common framework for investigating cultural and biological diffusion. (shrink)

This article reviews and discusses emerging evidence suggesting an evolutionarily‐conserved connection between injury‐associated exposure of cytoskeletal proteins and the induction of tolerance to infection, repair of tissue damage and restoration of homeostasis. While differences exist between vertebrates and invertebrates with respect to the receptor(s), cell types, and effector mechanisms involved, the response to exposed cytoskeletal proteins appears to be protective and to rely on a conserved signaling cassette involving Src family kinases, the nonreceptor tyrosine kinase Syk, and tyrosine phosphatases. (...) A case is made for research programs that integrate different model organisms in order to increase the understanding of this putative response to tissue damage. (shrink)

This book explores the possible relations between Western types of rationality and Buddhism. It also examines some clichés about Buddhism and questions the old antinomies of Western culture. The use of the Buddhist notion of the Two Truths as a hermeneutic device leads to a double or multiple exposure that will call into question our mental habits and force us to ask questions differently, to think "in a new key." _Double Exposure_ is somewhat of an oddity. Written by a (...) specialist for nonspecialists, it is not a book of vulgarization. Although it aims at a better integration of Western and Buddhist thought, it is not an exercise in comparative philosophy or religion. It is neither a contribution to Buddhist scholarship in the narrow sense, nor a contribution to some vague Western "spirituality." Cutting across traditional disciplines and blurring established genres, it provides a leisurely but deeply insightful stroll through philosophical and literary texts, dreams, poetry, and paradoxes. (shrink)

The Hygiene Hypothesis has been recognized as an important cornerstone to explain the sudden increase in the prevalence of asthma and allergic diseases in modernized culture. The recent epidemic of allergic diseases is in contrast with the gradual implementation of Homo sapiens sapiens to the present-day forms of civilization. This civilization forms a gradual process with cumulative effects on the human immune system, which co-developed with parasitic and commensal Helminths. The clinical manifestation of this epidemic, however, became only visible in (...) the second half of the twentieth century. In order to explain these clinical effects in terms of the underlying IgE-mediated reactions to innocuous environmental antigens, the low biodiversity of antigens in the domestic environment plays a pivotal role. The skewing of antigen exposure as a cumulative effect of reducing biodiversity in the immediate human environment as well as in changing food habits, provides a sufficient and parsimonious explanation for the rise in allergic diseases in a highly developed and helminth-free modernized culture. Socio-economic tendencies that incline towards a further reduction of environmental biodiversity may provide serious concern for future health. This article explains that the “Hygiene Hypothesis”, the “Old Friends Hypothesis”, and the “Skewed Antigen Exposure Hypothesis” are required to more fully explain the rise of allergy in modern societies. (shrink)

Oxidative damage to DNA has been associated with neurodegenerative diseases. Developmental exposure to lead has been shown to elevate the Alzheimer's disease related beta-amyloid peptide , which is known to generate reactive oxygen species in the aging brain. This study measures the lifetime cerebral 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine levels and the activity of the DNA repair enzyme 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase in rats developmentally exposed to Pb. Oxo8dG was transiently modulated early in life , but was later elevated 20 months after exposure (...) to Pb had ceased, while Ogg1 activity was not altered. Furthermore, an age-dependent loss in the inverse correlation between Ogg1 activity and oxo8dG accumulation was observed. The effect of Pb on oxo8dG levels did not occur if animals were exposed to Pb in old age. These increases in DNA damage occurred in the absence of any Pb-induced changes in copper/zinc-superoxide dismutase , manganese-SOD , and reduced-form glutathion . These data suggest that oxidative damage and neurodegeneration in the aging brain could be impacted by the developmental disturbances. (shrink)

Several lines of evidence show that systematic exposure to negative social acts at the workplace i.e., workplace bullying, results in symptoms of depression and anxiety among those targeted. However, little is known about the association between bullying, inflammatory genes and sleep problems. In the present study, we examined the indirect association between exposure to negative social acts and sleep through distress, as moderated by the miR-146a genotype. The study was based on a nationally representative survey of 1179 Norwegian (...) employees drawn from the Norwegian Central Employee Register by Statistics Norway. Exposure to workplace bullying was measured with the 9-item version of Negative Acts Questionnaire – Revised (NAQ-R) inventory. Seventeen items from Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL-25) was used to measure distress. Insomnia was assessed with three items reflecting problems with sleep onset, maintenance of sleep and early morning awakening. Genotyping with regard to miR-146a rs2910164, previously linked to inflammatory processes, was carried out using Taqman assay. The data revealed that individuals systematically exposed to negative social acts at the workplace reported higher levels of sleep problems than non-exposed individuals. Moreover, the relationship between distress induced by exposure to negative social acts and insomnia was significantly stronger for individuals with the miR-146a GG genotype. Thus, the miR-146a genotype moderated the association between distress and insomnia among individuals exposed to negative social acts. The present report support the hypothesis that inflammation could play a role in stress-induced insomnia among individuals exposed to workplace bullying. (shrink)

Since its reunification, Berlin has regained its reputation as a sexually liberal European metropolis, offering spaces and infrastructures for non-normative sex to become present in the cityscape. However, with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany and the concomitant measures to contain its spread, sexual practices and their open display have become highly contested and subject to increased regulation. In this article, we attend to sex work and casual sex among gay men, who, both historically and at present, have (...) been placed under particular public scrutiny and moralised governance. Yet, non-normative sex did not vanish from the city during the pandemic, but appeared in the form of both moralising media exposure and politically motivated public appearances. Attending to the intersections and divergences within these shifting presences of casual gay sex and sex work, we highlight how the biopolitical governance of pandemic sex has been evaded, contested and incorporated into efforts to normalise certain sexual activities. We therefore conclude that the pandemic had ambivalent effects on non-normative sexual practices in Berlin. It contributed to a further politicisation in the fight for their place in the city and to the emergence of normative assumptions about the respectable sexual subject for and within communities centred around non-normative sexual practices. (shrink)

It has been argued that some recent experimental findings about the mere exposure effect can be used to argue for aesthetic antirealism: the view that there is no fact of the matter about aesthetic value. The aim of this paper is to assess this argument and point out that this strategy, as it stands, does not work. But we may still be able to use experimental findings about the mere exposure effect in order to engage with the aesthetic (...) realism/antirealism debate. However, this argument would need to proceed very differently and would only support a much more modest version of aesthetic antirealism. (shrink)

The psycho-historical account implies two ways of construing the relation of basic exposure to the artistic design stance and artistic understanding. One is empirically dubious and the other does not fit well with the account. The assumption that combining psychology with history requires identifying actual intentions is undermined by the artistic design stance.

IntroductionFirst aiders are commonly exposed to different forms of traumatic event during their duties, such as Chronic Indirect Vicarious Exposure which refers to an indirect exposure to aversive details of the trauma. If the psychopathological impact of TE is well documented, the mental health of first aiders remains neglected. Therefore, our main objectives are to study the link between exposure to traumatic events and psychopathological outcomes and to quantify the rates of mental health disorders among first aiders.MethodOur (...) sample comprised of 53 volunteer first aiders with an average age of 32.4 years. Traumatic event exposure and mental health were assessed through a set of validated questionnaires completed online.ResultsRates of mental health outcomes were higher than within the general population. Females showed higher scores of post-traumatic stress disorder than males. PTSD scores were significantly correlated with all mental issues scores, apart from tobacco use and eating disorders scores. There was a significant correlation between the number of traumatic events and the years of experience. Exposure to traumatic events only correlated with nicotine dependency. No other correlation reaches statistical significance.DiscussionThe scores of all mental health outcomes were high; a surprising result, as volunteer first aiders are thought to be recruited for their strong dispositional cognitive and emotional abilities. The high levels of post-traumatic stress disorder and burnout, along with the prevalent anxiety and depression, highlight the need for greater psychosocial support. Resilience training and peer support would be useful interventions in this group. (shrink)

Using a sample of US stocks over the period 1991–2019, we test whether stocks with high exposure to a social index exhibit high returns. Using a univariate analysis, our in‐sample results show that stocks with high sensitivities to the MSCI KLD 400 Social Index underperform stocks with low sensitivities by an annual risk‐adjusted performance of 7.02%. The negative premium is also larger in the post‐crisis period of 2007–2019 and is equal to 10.25%. The out‐of‐sample results offer, however, only weak (...) evidence of such a finding, with a risk‐adjusted performance difference of merely −0.84% over the full sample period and no significant differences between the pre‐crisis and post‐crisis periods. In the multivariate regression, we find evidence of a negative relationship between exposure to the social index and stock performance. Moreover, we find that stocks with high exposure to the social index display a low corporate social responsibility score, a high Tobin’s Q, high long‐term debt, a large size, high total risk, a high market beta, a high SMB coefficient, a low HML coefficient, and a small MOM coefficient. (shrink)

This study reports findings of gender differences in tax attitude changes influenced by better tax knowledge. Male students are more exposed to tax knowledge in a way that makes them reconsider more easily their attitudes towards their own tax evasion, i.e. tax ethics, than their female peers. Male students get a significantly stricter attitude towards their own tax evasion. On the other hand, female students are more exposed to tax knowledge in a way that makes them reconsider their attitude towards (...) other people's tax evasion than their male peers, i.e. they get a significantly stricter attitude towards others tax evasion. Improved tax knowledge significantly changed both male and female students attitude towards the fairness of the tax system, i.e. they considered the tax system to be more fair. Implications for ethical behaviour of taxpayers are highlighted. (shrink)

“Waterman's profound respect for the northern lands burns on every page, and his photos and essays prove to us that there is still beauty in this world—beauty worth fighting for.”—Robert Redford North of the sixtieth parallel, the sun shines for less than six hours in the winter, and towering mountains are the only skyscrapers. Pristine waters serve caribou, moose, and bears in an unbroken landscape. At any given moment in this spectacular scenery, there’s a chance that Jonathan Waterman is present, (...) trekking across the land. A masterful adventurer, Waterman has spent decades exploring the farthest reaches of our beautiful spaces. The essays and photographs collected in Northern Exposures are a product of this passion for exploration and offer an unparalleled view into adventuring in the north and beyond. Picking up after In the Shadow of Denali, his first book of essays, Northern Exposures collects twenty-three stories from Waterman’s thirty-year career that show the evolution of the adventurer’s career and work, from ducking avalanches near the Gulf of Alaska, to searching for the most pristine tundra on the continent, and from writing haiku on Denali in the depth of winter to decrying oil development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Ninety-six spectacular photographs taken by Waterman during his expeditions lend a broader context and allow readers to fully understand his heartfelt argument for protecting these places. Whether active, aspiring, or just armchair adventurers, readers will be inspired by Waterman’s daring spirit. (shrink)