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Sedentary behavior and metabolic health in young adults across ecological contexts and behavioral patterns
No full textSedentary behavior (SB) is linked to adverse health outcomes, but its patterns and contexts are still not fully understood. Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) integrated with accelerometry offers potential insight. This study examined associations between SB patterns and contexts with metabolic biomarkers in young adults. Of 142 participants, 126 provided valid data, with 18 excluded for EMA issues. A total of 108 young adults (21–24 years; 90% power, α = 0.05, f² = 0.15) wore accelerometers for 7 days and completed EMA surveys every 120 min to capture SB contexts. Metabolic biomarkers (glucose, TC, HDL, LDL, TG) were analyzed, and multiple regression tested associations. Sedentary time was positively associated with LDL (mg/dL) (β = 0.065; St β 0.205; [95% CI 0.004;0.126]); p = 0.036). Only leisure-time SB context showed positive association with glucose (β = 0.073; St β 0.195; [95% CI 0.004;0.141]); p = 0.038), TC (β = 0.553; St β 0.239; [95% CI 0.134;0.971]); p = 0.010), and LDL (β = 0.492; St β 0.241; [95% CI 0.111;0.872]); p = 0.012). None of the analyzed variables were associated with SB pattern. EMA-accelerometry integration revealed that leisure-time SB is associated with glucose, TC, LDL, underscoring the importance of examining SB contexts in health research.publishe
Genetic signatures predict social-cognitive trajectories in ultra-high-risk psychosis : A 24-month longitudinal study
No full textBackground:
Identifying biomarkers that predict social and cognitive outcomes in individuals at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis remains a key challenge in preventive psychiatry. While genetic factors contribute to psychosis vulnerability, specific markers that predict individual trajectories of functional decline or resilience are still unclear.
Methods:
In a 24-month longitudinal study involving UHR (n = 45) and healthy control participants (n = 54), we investigated for the first time the predictive causal relationship between key immunological genes (FABP5 family and immunoglobulins) and social-cognitive outcomes. Participants completed comprehensive assessments at baseline and four 6-month intervals. We used regression modelling and dynamic Bayesian network analysis to identify predictive relationships between gene expression and behavioral outcomes over time.
Results:
FABP5 family genes (FABP5P1, FABP5P11, FABP5P9) significantly predicted verbal memory (β = 0.233, p = 0.002); working memory (β = 0.225, p = 0.004), and social skills (β =-0⋅190, p < 0.029), respectively, at 24 months in the UHR group. Immunoglobulin-related genes showed distinct effects: FCGR2B predicted object recognition ability (β = 0.233, p = 0.014), while GOT2 inversely predicted planning ability (β = -0.147, p = 0.067). Network analysis revealed UHR-specific temporal dependencies absent in controls, with FCGRT emerging as a central node linking genetic markers to changes in processing speed and perceptual closure.publishe
Phenological Plasticity and Its Temperature-Related Drivers in Common Songbirds Across Europe
No full textPhenological plasticity—the ability of organisms to adjust the timing of life-history events in response to environmental variability—is the primary adaptive mechanism for many organisms to changing seasonality (e.g., earlier spring). By enabling alignment between life-history events and resource availability, it helps to maintain fitness despite changing environmental conditions. Theory predicts that phenological plasticity should vary among populations because of heterogeneity in environmental variability, and among species because of differences in life-history (e.g., migration distance) and phylogenetic constraints. However, comprehensive, multi-species, and cross-population analyses of phenological plasticity remain scarce. Here, we address this gap by using a unique, four-decade dataset from Europe-wide monitoring of common songbirds. Our approach reveals how variation in phenological plasticity is structured according to site temperature properties, both within and across species. We found that long-distance migrants generally exhibit lower plasticity than residents or short-distance migrants, highlighting a fundamental constraint tied to migration strategy. Within species, populations inhabiting sites with predictable temperature profiles showed slightly stronger plastic responses, particularly among single-brooded species and those adapted to warmer breeding conditions. Notably, populations from the fastest-warming regions demonstrated marginally greater plasticity, regardless of other ecological traits, suggesting a global tendency for increased responsiveness in rapidly changing climates. These findings confirm and extend patterns previously observed at smaller scales, offering a more nuanced understanding of how local temperature conditions drive phenological plasticity. By demonstrating that the interplay between local environmental conditions and life-history traits underpins variation in breeding phenological responses, our study refines the current framework for predicting adaptive potential across populations and species under climate change.publishe
Unconscious bias in students of health professions : an experimental vignette study
No full textBackground: Unconscious bias refers to automatic, implicit attitudes or stereotypes that influence our understanding, decisions, and actions without our conscious awareness. It is recognised as a significant problem in healthcare contributing to disparities in treatment. To date it remains unclear how unconscious bias towards patients develops among health professionals. One hypothesis is that such bias is acquired during education, either through teaching content or by observing other health professionals interacting with patients and adopting their behaviour. We investigated whether health care students show an unconscious bias and whether there are indications that it develops during their professional education.
Methods: We conducted a factorial survey experiment with bachelor’s and master’s students enrolled in various health professions’ programmes. Unconscious bias was assessed using three written vignettes describing clinical situations involving patients. Participants were asked to evaluate their likelihood of helping immediately, expected patient adherence, and expected quality of the patient relationship. Vignette dimensions contained common sources of bias that were experimentally manipulated: gender, age, socio-economic status, migration status, diagnosis (physical or mental illness), and sexual orientation. Multivariable regression models were used to estimate the causal effects of patient characteristics on vignettes on students’ responses. Additionally, an Implicit Association Test (IAT) on unconscious bias regarding homosexuality was used to measure implicit bias. Explicit attitudes were assessed via self-report.
Results: A total of 470 students (response rate 21.5%) participated. Vignette analysis showed no differences in stated helping intention, adherence expectations, or relationship assessments with regard to patient characteristics such as gender, age, socio-economic status, foreign name, sexual orientation or diagnosis. No systematic differences were observed for subgroups of participants such as year of study, programme type, prior work experience, or reported exposure to bias behaviour by health care staff. Similarly, IAT results indicated no overall bias towards homosexuality.
Conclusions: We found no evidence of systematic unconscious bias among students’ helping intentions, expected patient adherence, and expected patient relations across various patient characteristics. Comparisons across study years and programs provided no indication that such biases emerge or intensify during training. If replicated, these results would be encouraging, as it indicates an absence of unconscious bias in health care students.publishe
Orality and overtness : effects on Spanish subject use
No full textThis study of a corpus of varieties of Spanish finds that the level of orality of a text is a strong predictor of subject pronoun expression. Following previous studies’ application of orality to interrogative constructions in Brazilian Portuguese and French, an orality measurement was adapted for Spanish and applied to the new corpus Corpus Diacrónico del Español Latinoamericano: Edición de Sujetos (CorDELES). CorDELES was created to investigate the historic development of subject pronoun expression that led to the high rates of overt subject pronouns attested in current varieties of Latin American Spanish, specifically whether overt subject pronoun expression increases following contact with the enslaved Africans brought to the Caribbean during the colonial period. This contact hypothesis was used as a backdrop to investigate the effects of orality on a corpus. Indeed, the inclusion of orality as a predictor in a mixed-effects model found significant effects for a distinction between Spain and the Americas as well as an intriguing interaction between year and orality. These results add to the burgeoning body of work revealing the benefits of accounting for orality in corpus work.publishe
A Warming World’s Disparity : How Perceptions of Inequality Affect Climate-Related Behavior and Policy Support
No full textClimate change and inequality are deeply interconnected. Global debates reflect historical emission disparities between the Global North and South, while younger generations face disproportionate climate burdens. Economic inequality also shapes climate politics, as mitigation policies can have regressive effects that provoke backlash from low-income or rural groups who depend more on fossil fuels. Yet little is known about how citizens perceive these inequalities or how such perceptions shape their willingness to act or support policy. This dissertation addresses this gap through three studies comparing the effects of economic, generational, and regional inequality on climate-friendly behavior and support for mitigation policies.
The first study examines how perceived economic, generational, and global inequalities affect willingness to adopt low-emission lifestyles using a representative survey and vignette experiment in Germany. Respondents were most open to reducing air travel, least to limiting car use or meat consumption. While economic inequality was seen as most unfair, generational and global inequality frames more strongly increased willingness to act - but only modestly, suggesting that inequality framing alone cannot drive large-scale behavioral change.
The second research paper shifts focus to policy support, examining how economic and generational inequality concerns interact in the context of domestic climate policy. Using a module of the Inequality Barometer survey in Germany, it implements an information-provision experiment on the perceived economic burdens of carbon taxation and the unequal generational consequences of climate change, with an additional treatment highlighting the 2021 German Constitutional Court ruling in favor of protecting future generations. Economic inequality information reduced support, while generational inequality increased it; combined, the economic effect dominated. The court ruling partly mitigated opposition, particularly among right-leaning respondents, revealing both opportunities and limits of legal cues in increasing policy support.
The third study investigates regional and economic inequality in Austria’s regionally differentiated carbon tax rebate through a survey experiment. Information about regional differentiation lowered perceived regional unfairness but did not raise overall support. Regional framing yielded higher approval among rural and right-leaning participants, yet differences by political alignment and trust persisted. Panel data further showed no increase in support after the rebate’s introduction.
Across studies, perceptions of inequality influence climate action and policy support in nuanced, context-dependent ways. Political orientation and trust consistently outweigh inequality framing effects. Generational and global inequality frames are more effective in motivating behavioral change, whereas economic inequality reduces policy support despite compensation mechanisms. Regional fairness matters symbolically but does not guarantee higher acceptance. By comparing multiple inequality dimensions, this dissertation clarifies the psychological and political pathways linking fairness perceptions to climate action and highlights the limits of fairness-based framing and compensation in building public support for equitable climate policy.publishe
Differential Responses of Human iPSC-Derived Microglia to Stimulation with Diverse Inflammogens
No full textHuman microglia are central regulators and actors in brain infections and neuro-inflammatory pathologies. However, access to such cells is limited, and studies systematically mapping the spectrum of their inflammatory states are scarce. Here, we generated microglia-like cells (MGLCs) from human induced pluripotent stem cells and characterized them as a robust, accessible model system for studying inflammatory activation. We validated lineage identity through transcriptome profiling, revealing selective upregulation of microglial signature genes and enrichment of microglia/macrophage-related gene sets. MGLCs displayed distinct morphologies and produced stimulus- and time-dependent cytokine secretion profiles upon exposure to diverse inflammatory stimuli, including pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNFα, interferon-γ) and agonists of the Toll-like receptors TLR2 (FSL-1), TLR3 (Poly(I:C)), TLR4 (lipopolysaccharide, LPS), and TLR7 (imiquimod). Transcriptome profiling and bioinformatics analysis revealed distinct activation signatures. Functional assays demonstrated stimulus-specific engagement of NFκB and JAK-STAT signaling pathways. The shared NFκB nuclear translocation response of TLR ligands and TNFα was reflected in overlapping transcriptome profiles: they shared modules (e.g., oxidative stress response and TNFα-related signaling) identified by weighted gene co-expression network analysis. Finally, the potential consequences of microglia activation for neighboring cells were studied on the example of microglia-astrocyte crosstalk. The capacity of MGLC supernatants to stimulate astrocytes was measured by quantifying astrocytic NFκB translocation. MGLCs stimulated with FSL-1, LPS, or Poly(I:C) indirectly activated astrocytes via a strictly TNFα-dependent mechanism, highlighting the role of soluble mediators in the signal propagation. Altogether, this platform enables a dissection of microglia activation states and multi-parametric characterization of subsequent neuroinflammation.publishe
Indirect role of climatic suitability in mediating the effects of plant characteristics on naturalization success of cultivated alien plants in Southern Africa
No full textThe rapid expansion of global trade, tourism, and human mobility has increased the introduction of alien plants into new regions. Here, we assessed the role of plant characteristics and climatic suitability in the naturalization success of 1,407 cultivated alien plants in Southern Africa. We used mediation analysis with climate suitability as a mediator to quantify the direct and indirect effects of plant characteristics, including phylogenetic relatedness, seed mass, plant height, native origins, native range size, and growth forms on naturalization success. We found that naturalized species have higher climatic suitability compared to non-naturalized ones. Additionally, seed mass, plant height, short-lived herbaceous growth form, and native range size are positively associated with naturalization success. In contrast, phylogenetic relatedness and a native origin in Europe were negatively associated with naturalization success. These associations were indirectly mediated by climatic suitability, with indirect effects accounting for more than 30% of the total effect in all cases. Our study underscores the significance of considering the role of climatic suitability for a comprehensive understanding of how plant characteristics impact the naturalization success of alien plants.publishe
The Puzzle of the Absent-Minded Driver is Not about Absent-Mindedness, but about Indexical Belief
No full textThis paper does not add a novel solution or a novel justification for an existing solution of the puzzle of the absent-minded driver. Rather it wants to set existing solutions into the right perspective. It argues that the puzzle is not about absent-mindedness at all, but about indexically presented indistinguishable alternatives. It identifies a common assumption as one about the relation between beliefs about indexical and non-indexical propositions. So, this is what is involved in the puzzle. This assumption entails the favorite solution of the puzzle and is stated as a general a priori symmetry principle for indexical propositions.publishe
Bridging teacher motivation and instruction : Relevance of student‐oriented goals for teaching alongside personal achievement goals and self‐efficacy
No full textBackground:
Achievement goals and self-efficacy are key components of teacher motivation and crucial for teaching quality and student outcomes, yet the processes explaining why they lead to specific teaching behaviours remain unclear. This study focuses on student-oriented goals as a potential process element and construct in its own right.
Aims:
We aim to uncover the associations of teachers' personal goals and self-efficacy beliefs with specific teaching behaviours, and the added value of student-oriented goals for these processes.
Sample:
70 secondary school teachers from German general education secondary schools, teaching Mathematics in grades 7–9 in lower track secondary education (42 women, 28 men; mean age 43.7 years, SD = 10.6) filled out a total of 345 lesson diaries over 5 weeks.
Methods:
After reporting personal goals, self-efficacy and student-oriented goals, teachers filled out standardized lesson diaries on their specific teaching behaviours encompassing both mastery-based (interestingness, cognitive stimulation, individualization, autonomy support, structuring, collaboration, heterogeneous grouping) as well as performance-based aspects (public negative feedback, homogeneous grouping and competition).
Results:
Two-level path modelling indicated that personal performance goals are positively related to student-oriented performance goals, with student-oriented mastery goals statistically predicted by teachers' self-efficacy. In turn, student-oriented mastery goals positively predicted mastery-based teaching practices. Different linkages were observed for different teaching behaviours.
Conclusions:
The findings highlight the relevance of considering student-oriented goals in better understanding the relationship between teacher motivation and instructional practices.publishe