Bringing the outside in: Craftspeople share

Where do things REALLY come from? The basic beginnings of the food on the supermarket shelves, the clothes on our backs, the furniture we sit on are a mystery to many children. They can learn about these through books and stories, but firsthand observation is far better. But field trips can be complex undertakings, taxing the resources of time, money, and transportation. Fortunately, there are hobbyists and professional craftspeople who are willing to travel to you and share their knowledge with your children. Inviting them to visit your classroom can create a wonderful experience for all concerned.     

Sex Differences in the Perceived Appropriateness of Receiving Verbal Aggression

This study predicted that (a) male recipients evaluate aggressive messages as more appropriate than female recipients, and (b) the magnitude of this difference varies as a function of contextual parameters. A total of 249 college-aged students responded to hypothetical scenarios to evaluate the influence of sex of the message recipient, sex of the message source, relationship type, and privacy level of the communication setting on recipients’ evaluations of appropriateness of aggressive communication. Results indicated that male recipients evaluate aggressive messages as more appropriate than female recipients, and this main effect was moderated by sex of the message source, relationship type, and privacy level. The discussion highlights the subjective experience of aggression for male and female recipients.     

In vivo inhibition and recovery of brain acetylcholinesterase in topmouth gudgeon (Pseudorasobora parva) following exposure to fenitrothion

Freshwater fish, topmouth gudgeon (Pseudorasobora parva), were pretreated with piperronyl butoxide (PBO) or triphenyl phosphate (TPP) and then exposed to different concentrations of fenitrothion (FNT) in a static system. Evaluation of brain acetylcholinesterase (AchE) activity after 24, 48 and 96 h pesticide exposure indicated that AchE activity decreased as the concentration increased. Fish pretreated with TPP exhibited significantly decreased AchE activity whilst in the PBO pretreated group, increased activity was observed as compared with those exposed to FNT alone. The pattern of AchE recovery was also assessed in fish previously exposed for 96h and then transferred to clean (chemical free) water. Following 8 days of recovery period, the AchE activity of those exposed to FNT alone and pretreated with TPP was still lower than that of the control. This study showed that FNT may cause hazard to fish after field application.     

Organochlorine pesticides BHC and DDE in human blood in and around Madurai, India

In this study blood samples are taken from two groups of people, one that has direct exposure to pesticides (agriculturists & public health workers) the second group, which has indirect exposure to pesticides through food chain. The objective of our investigation is to analyze the blood of the patients with minimum health complaints and skin diseases for the residue of the banned organochlorine pesticides DDE and BHC using Gas Chromatography. High concentrations of both BHC&DDE were observed in the serum samples of the people who had direct exposure to the pesticides, namely agriculturalists and public health workers with few exceptions. The pesticide residue concentration in serum ranges from 0.006 to 0.130 ppm for BHC and 0.002 to 0.033 ppm for DDE. Significance of this study reveals that the presence of these banned pesticides in human serum.     

Opportunities and challenges for research collaboration among the BRICS nations

BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) are considered an important economic grouping, given their tremendous recent economic expansion and, at least in some cases, their transition from relative stasis to dynamic growth. Though the five BRICS summit declarations focus on mutual economic and trade cooperation, there have also been considerable attempts to enhance research collaboration. This study attempts to map out research collaboration in BRICS using four measurable categories, namely, research capacity, research outputs, ranking and number of international collaborations. Based on this mapping study, the paper further explores the opportunities for and challenges to research collaboration among BRICS nations. It might seem premature to assess the result of BRICS cooperation, given its five-year history. However, the analysis of existing literature and other available data sources allow us to assume that language, financial commitment, inadequate regulatory frameworks and diverse interests are amongst the potential challenges. At the same time there are tremendous opportunities in research collaboration, which can contribute to the economic consolidation of BRICS. These include participating in BRICS priority research areas, making member countries attractive destinations for research, encouraging learning mobility and strengthening BRICS research capacities. Thus the paper provides a critical review of research collaboration in BRICS, and suggests how it might be further increased.     

Perceptions of social‐sexual communication at work: The effects of message,situation, and observer characteristics on judgments of sexual harassment

Social‐sexual communication at work may contribute to either the initiation of an organizational romance or sexual harassment. We examined forces that influence perceptions of sexual messages as harassing rather than flirtatious. We presented 94 working adults with questionnaires soliciting workplace attitudes and experiences. Then, participants reviewed newsletters describing male and female coworkers in a fictitious organization. Finally, participants evaluated the degree of sexual harassment evident in six hypothetical interactions wherein one of the employees introduced in the newsletter makes a suggestive remark to his or her coworker. Newsletters and questionnaires manipulated the explicitness of messages, the initiator's status as supervisor versus subordinate, the attractiveness of the message initiator and target, and the initiator's sex. Message explicitness accounted for 88% of the variance in perceptions of harassment. A five‐way interaction among message and situational cues suggested that perceptions of sexual harassment are also influenced by contextual information. Females rated highly explicit messages as more harassing than did males, and individuals who were more accepting of socializing or dating between coworkers rated scenarios as less harassing. Exposure to socializing at work had a curvilinear association with perceptions of harassment such that low to moderate exposure corresponded with perceptions of greater harassment and moderate to high exposure was associated with lower ratings of sexual harassment. The discussion highlights applications for sexual harassment training programs within organizations.     

Responses to changes in relational uncertainty within dating relationships: Emotions and communication strategies

Guided by the appraisal theory of emotion, this paper examines how various emotions shape communication strategies within romantic relationships. Events that changed people's relational uncertainty levels provide the context for the investigation. Participants in dating relationships (N = 141) described their experience of relational certainty and uncertainty increasing events. Relational certainty increases coincided with relatively high levels of happiness, and relational uncertainty increases corresponded with heightened degrees of anger and sadness. Integrative behaviors were a frequently reported response to both kinds of events. Consistent with appraisal theory, specific emotions were associated with particular strategies; however, some effects were moderated by the type of event. The discussion highlights the utility of appraisal theory for understanding how romantic partners manage fluctuations in relational uncertainty.     

Giving and Taking across Borders: The Rockefeller Foundation and Russia, 1919–1928

Until recently, the links between Rockefeller philanthropies and Russianscience and medicine during the 1920s have been virtually ignored, both inofficial Foundation histories and in Soviet accounts of foreign scientificrelations. Materials from the newly-opened Russian archives and the Rockefeller Archive Center reveal dense and tangled connections between multiple Rockefeller givers and multiple Russian takers. Examining the `Russian matter' from the perspective of both `givers' and `takers', this article highlights the impact of domestic and international politics on giving and taking across borders, and reveals the range of meanings of`internationalism' in philanthropy.