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Listening to understand: the role of high-quality listening on speakers’ attitude depolarization during disagreements
Get PDFDisagreements can polarize attitudes when they evoke defensiveness from the conversation partners. When a speaker talks, listeners often think about ways to counterargue. This process often fails to depolarize attitudes and might even backfire (i.e., the Boomerang effect). However, what happens in disagreements if one conversation partner genuinely listens to the other’s perspective? We hypothesized that when conversation partners convey high-quality listening—characterized by attention, understanding, and positive intentions—speakers will feel more socially comfortable and connected to them (i.e., positivity resonance) and reflect on their attitudes in a less defensive manner (i.e., have self-insight). We further hypothesized that this process reduces perceived polarization (perceived attitude change, perceived attitude similarity with the listener) and actual polarization (reduced attitude extremity). Four experiments manipulated poor, moderate, and high-quality listening using a video vignette (Study 1) and live interactions (Studies 2-4). The results consistently supported the research hypotheses and a serial mediation model in which listening influences depolarization through positivity resonance and non-defensive self-reflection. Most of the effects of the listening manipulation on perceived and actual depolarization generalized across indicators of attitude strength, specifically, attitude certainty and attitude morality. These findings suggest that high-quality listening can be a valuable tool for bridging attitudinal and ideological divides
Naval War College situation: conflict in Gregoria and Tanaka: the law of targeting
Get PDFThis article addresses complex law of armed conflict (LOAC) issues posed by a scenario with eight “situations” examined during a tabletop workshop conducted by the U.S. Naval War College’s Stockton Center for International Law. Participants included judge advocates from the United States and uniformed legal advisors from Israel, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, all of whom had extensive experience providing legal advice on targeting. Also included were academics with particular expertise in the law of armed conflict. The situations were drafted to reflect situations some of the participants had faced in international or non-international armed conflict.
The scenario involves an armed conflict between two fictional States and separate hostilities between one of those States and an organized armed group. The issues include the targeting of dual-use facilities and objects, membership in organized armed groups, direct participation by civilians, human shields, urban warfare, cyber operations, and application of the proportionality rule and the requirement to take precautions in attack. While the analysis and positions discussed do not necessarily represent the legal position of any State or individual participant, they are designed to afford readers a glimpse into how scholars and experienced practitioners, working together, might address the situations raised in the scenario
Downward occupational mobility and job satisfaction: when does it hurt less?
Get PDFDownward occupational mobility is a generally under-explored subject in careers research. This study examines how job satisfaction evolves before, during and after a downward career transition and how the pattern is moderated by individual and contextual factors. Drawing on the UK Household Longitudinal Study which followed respondents from 40,000 households over the last decade, our fixed effects analysis shows that downward occupational mobility has negative effect on job satisfaction that lasts for several years following the transition. However, the detrimental effect of downward occupational mobility on job satisfaction is mitigated when the event is preceded by a spell of unemployment or when individuals reside in regions with high level of unemployment. These results likely reflect individuals’ tendency to evaluate their careers in the context of their employment history as well as their peers’ labour market experience. This study highlights the relativity of subjective well-being function, as self- and social comparisons feature prominently in how people judge their lives
Smallholder farmers’ cropping decisions in rural North‑west Ghana under climate variability and change
Get PDFThis study examines smallholder farmers’ cropping decisions in North-west Ghana under climate variability and change
(CVC). It aims to understand the matches and mismatches between farmers’ perceptions and climatic data, characterise
farmers’ crop choice by identifying diferences between current and past practices, and understand why smallholder farmers respond or not to CVC via crop selection. The study uses a parallel mixed methods approach, with 150 households interviewed, and employs theories of Drought Perception, Planned Behaviour, and Social Identity. Results show that farmers’ perceptions of CVC mismatch climatic data. Farmers’ attitudes largely shape their decisions to respond to CVC via crop choice. Negative attitudes, such as perceived poor yield and difculty in cultivation, have led to the displacement of traditional varieties, while positive attitudes, such as perceived yield benefts, have led to cultivation of improved varieties of crops. The study highlights the need to support smallholder farmers in adapting to CVC and ensuring the availability and utilisation of culturally appropriate foods. Future research should explore the impact of climate change adaptation on the availability and utilisation of culturally appropriate foods
A targeted single mutation in influenza A virus universal epitope transforms immunogenicity and protective immunity via CD4+ T cell activation
Get PDFCD4+ T cells are central to adaptive immunity. Their role in cross-protection in viral infections such as influenza and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is well documented; however, molecular rules governing T cell receptor (TCR) engagement of peptide-human leukocyte antigen (pHLA) class II are less understood. Here, we exploit an aspect of HLA class II presentation, the peptide-flanking residues (PFRs), to “tune” CD4+ T cell responses within an in vivo model system of influenza. Using a recombinant virus containing targeted substitutions at immunodominant HLA-DR1 epitopes, we demonstrate limited weight loss and improved clinical scores after heterosubtypic re-challenge. We observe enhanced protection linked to lung-derived influenza-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells prior to re-infection. Structural analysis of the ternary TCR:pHLA complex identifies that flanking amino acids influence side chains in the core 9-mer peptide, increasing TCR affinity. Augmentation of CD4+ T cell immunity is achievable with a single mutation, representing a strategy to enhance adaptive immunity that is decoupled from vaccine modality
Heliophysics Great Observatories and international cooperation in Heliophysics: An orchestrated framework for scientific advancement and discovery
Get PDFWe suggest that the next era of Heliophysics should focus on the Sun–Heliosphere and Geospace as each a system-of-systems, and recommend a coordinated, deliberate, worldwide scientific effort to answer long-standing questions that will remain unanswered without a unified program. Many of the biggest unanswered science questions that remain across Heliophysics center around the interconnectivity of the different physical systems and the role of mesoscale dynamics in modulating, regulating, and controlling that interconnected behavior. Heliophysics has made key progress understanding both the large-scale dynamics and the microphysical processes that occur in these dynamic systems. Such understanding grew out of a systematic approach to study both limits of the system, from global, with the coordinated missions of the International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) program, to micro, with largely uncoordinated (albeit coincident) missions such as Cluster, Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS), Van Allen Probes, Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS), Parker Solar Probe, and Solar Orbiter. We suggest that the international Heliophysics community should embark on a grand program to study these system-of-systems holistically, with coordinated, multipoint measurements. We particularly recommend an emphasis on resolving the mesoscale dynamics that links micro to global, and a whole-of-science approach that includes ground-based measurements and advanced numerical modeling. In effect, we propose a mesoscale ISTP type program that would consist of a system of Great Observatories capable of revealing the connections among systems from the solar interior to the top of Earth’s atmosphere. The paradigm and specific approaches outlined in this paper could serve as a strategic imperative and overarching theme that binds our Solar and Space Physics communities together under a common scientific objective. By its very nature, the type of program we argue for would be large, with several coordinated elements, and international in scope. It would include space-borne missions and coordinated ground-based observatories, artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) methods of analyzing large and complex datasets, and next-generation numerical modeling. The need to coordinate and integrate these different elements is independent of any specific mission implementation. Hence, we suggest the Heliophysics community organize around an ISTP-type program, ISTPNext, with associated Heliophysics “Great Observatories”
Why are pension schemes frozen, and how does a freeze affect the employer’s risk?
Get PDFDefined benefit (DB) pension schemes involve substantial risks and costs for employers. So employers have frozen (or closed) their schemes. Using data on firms in the FTSE 100 index, we study the characteristics of employers who hard froze (no new members or accruals) their DB scheme, and the effect of this on the employer’s risk. We find that the probability of a hard freeze is a negative function of employer size, operating cash flow and unionization; and a positive function of a previous soft freeze (no new members). We also find that a hard freeze reduces total, unsystematic and credit risk; and increases systematic and asset risk
Understanding tropical cyclone precipitation in the Northern Philippines
Get PDFIn this thesis, I investigate different factors that affect Tropical Cyclone (TC) precipitation and characteristics in Luzon, the northern regions of the Philippines. This thesis is is divided into two parts: an observational
study to establish relationships between TC characteristics and rainfall in Luzon, and modeling experiments to
understand and explain the processes that link TC rainfall with the topography of Luzon.
In the first part of this thesis, I investigate the relationship between TC extreme precipitation, TC characteristics, and the orography of the Philippines. I first introduced the Weighted Mean Precipitation Exceedance
(WPE), a measure of extreme precipitation. WPE is adapted from different studies that calculate extreme precipitation based on extreme thresholds for specific regions, as well as the spatial coverage of precipitation in the
said region. As the WPE calculates both intensity and extent in a single value, we are easily able to compare
extreme precipitation for different TCs.
For all TCs that cross Luzon between 1978-2015, we find that when comparing between intensity or
movement speed categories, stronger or slower TCs that make landfall significantly yield higher WPE. The
proportion of landfalling strong TCs, or Typhoons, is lower during June to September (29.58%) compared to
the proportion of Typhoons making landfall in October to December (60.71%). However, the proportion of TCs
that exceed the median WPE is higher during June to September (71.43%) compared to those making landfall
during October to December (61.76%). This shows that the relationship between TC intensity and WPE is
more pronounced during the months June to September — the Southwest Monsoon season in the Philippines.
These results suggest that it is important to consider the pre-landfall cyclone movement speed, intensity, and
season to anticipate extreme precipitation of incoming TCs.
To explain the underlying processes that link TC winds, precipitation, and orography, for the second part
of this thesis I conduct Numerical Weather Prediction experiments for eight different TCs for different heights
of the Cordillera Mountain Range (CMR): Control, Flat, Reduced (0.5x height), and Enhanced (2x height).
From the results, we find that precipitation along the mountain range increases for increasing CMR height on
average. Comparing precipitation rates for the Flat and Reduced terrain profiles with the Control terrain shows
an average increase of 5 mm/hr rain rates, with precipitation rates similarly increasing by 5 mm/hr between the
Control and Enhanced terrain.
There are no significant changes for TC movement speeds and TC position for different terrain profiles.
Regarding TC intensity, TCs weaken as early as 21 hours prior to landfall for higher CMR elevation when
comparing the Enhanced and Control experiments, while the TC strength is similar between the Flat/Reduced
and Control experiments. It is possible that TC intensity is less sensitive to mountain ranges at or below the
height of the actual CMR. We also find that mechanical uplift caused by stronger winds blowing up steeper
slopes results in higher amounts of precipitation along the CMR.
The results of this two-part study highlight the complexity of the relationships between TC characteristics,
orography, environmental wind, moisture, and TC rainfall. Nevertheless, this study shows that features such as
more intense TCs, the June to September monsoon season, and steeper mountain range slopes, are fundamentally linked to higher amounts of TC precipitation in the Philippines. The findings of this study can be used to
fill gaps in current forecasting limitations and may help improve our response to potential hazards associated
with TCs
English-medium instruction in Turkish universities: policies, practices, and perceptions
No full textLarge language models and linguistic intentionality
Get PDFDo large language models like Chat-GPT or Claude meaningfully use the words they produce? Or are they merely clever prediction machines, simulating language use by producing statistically plausible text? There have already been some initial attempts to answer this question by showing that these models meet the criteria for entering meaningful states according to metasemantic theories of mental content. In this paper, I will argue for a different approach – that we should instead consider whether language models meet the criteria given by our best metasemantic theories of linguistic content. In that vein, I will illustrate how this can be done by applying two such theories to the case of language models: Gareth Evans’ (1982) account of naming practices and Ruth Millikan’s (1984, 2004, 2005) teleosemantics. In doing so, I will argue that it is a mistake to think that the failure of LLMs to meet plausible conditions for mental intentionality thereby renders their outputs meaningless, and that a distinguishing feature of linguistic intentionality – dependency on a pre-existing linguistic system – allows for the plausible result that LLM outputs are meaningful