Turn up the volume: In a simple and highly sensitive aptamer‐based assay that relies on the ability of nanomaterials to protect DNA from nuclease cleavage, the aptamer is released from the ...nanomaterial when challenged with a target. The nuclease then cleaves the free aptamer and releases the target, which can initiate a new cycle. Recycling of the target in this way leads to significant signal amplification (see diagram).
A growing scientific literature has examined the predictors of workplace deviance, with much of this research focusing on job attitudes—particularly job satisfaction and organizational commitment—as ...antecedent variables. Because this research has primarily been conducted within North America, little is known about whether or not the relationships between attitudes and deviance vary across cultures. Thus, in the current research we examined the job attitude-workplace deviance relationship using data collected from workers in four different countries (i.e., China, India, Malaysia, and New Zealand) and meta-analysis. Results for the Malaysian and New Zealand samples indicated that job attitudes were negatively associated with all three measures of workplace deviance. Within the Chinese sample, job satisfaction and organizational commitment were only modestly related to three and two measures of workplace deviance, respectively. Moreover, within the Indian sample, job attitudes were not significantly related to any form of workplace deviance. Finally, the meta-analytic comparisons lent further support to the variability in the job attitude-workplace deviance relationship across cultures.
While national parochialism is commonplace, individual differences explain more variance in it than cross-national differences. Global consciousness (GC), a multi-dimensional concept that includes ...identification with all humanity, cosmopolitan orientation, and global orientation, transcends national parochialism. Across six societies (N = 11,163), most notably the USA and China, individuals high in GC were more generous allocating funds to the other in a dictator game, cooperated more in a one-shot prisoner's dilemma, and differentiated less between the ingroup and outgroup on these actions. They gave more to the world and kept less for the self in a multi-level public goods dilemma. GC profiles showed 80% test-retest stability over 8 months. Implications of GC for cultural evolution in the face of trans-border problems are discussed.
There has been growing interest in the social-emotional development of children. However, the social-emotional development of children in Asia remains a knowledge gap. This systematic review ...identifies and summarizes existing studies on children's social-emotional development in Asia. We conducted a systematic review using the Guidelines for Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA). We reviewed 45 studies that met the inclusion criteria, and they were from 12 Asian countries, primarily the East Asia region (China and Hong Kong). Most of the studies were cross-sectional in design (
= 28, 62.2%). Six themes emerged, including (a) social-emotional development (overall) (
= 24, 53.3%); (b) social competence (
= 7, 15.6%); (c) emotional development (
= 5, 11.1%); (d) social-emotional learning (
= 3, 6.7%); (e) problem behavior (
= 3, 6.7%); (f) self-regulation (
= 2, 4.4%); and (g) both social-emotional learning and problem behavior (
= 1, 2.2%). The findings highlighted the paucity of studies, the need for examining more diverse variables in a similar population, and the low quality of intervention studies in social-emotional research in Asia. Research gaps indicate the need for more social-emotional and ethnocultural studies in other Asian regions. Parent and teacher knowledge of children's social-emotional functioning should be examined more closely in future research.
Gene-environment (G × E) interactions involving job stress and mental health on risk factors of cardiovascular disease (CVD) are minimally explored. This study examined the association and G × E ...interaction effects of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (
) gene polymorphisms (rs1870377, rs2071559) on cardiometabolic risk in Chinese Malaysian adults. Questionnaires: Job Stress Scale (JSS); Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21); and Rhode Island Stress and Coping Inventory (RISCI) were used to measure job stress, mental health, and coping with perceived stress. Cardiometabolic risk parameters were evaluated in plasma and genotyping analysis was performed by real-time polymerase chain reaction. The subjects were 127 Chinese Malaysian adults. The allele frequencies for rs1870377 (A allele and T allele) and rs2071557 (A allele and T allele) polymorphisms were 0.48 and 0.52, and 0.37 and 0.63, respectively. Significant correlations include scores from JSS dimensions with blood glucose (BG) (
= 0.025-0.045), DASS-21 dimensions with blood pressure, BMI, and uric acid (
= 0.029-0.047), and RISCI with blood pressure and BG (
= 0.016-0.049). Significant G × E interactions were obtained for: rs1870377 with stress on total cholesterol (
= 0.035), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (
= 0.019), and apolipoprotein B100 (
= 0.004); and rs2071559 with anxiety on blood pressure (
= 0.006-0.045). The significant G × E interactions prompt actions for managing stress and anxiety for the prevention of CVD.
Many governments including Malaysia imposed movement restrictions as a public health measure to minimize COVID-19 (coronavirus) risks. Due to prolonged isolation, poorer physical and mental health ...are expected in the general population. Our aims were to examine (1) the mediating role of perceived social isolation (SI) and fear of social isolation (FSI) on the relationship between gratitude and anxiety, and (2) to explore the moderating role of age, education, and socioeconomic status (SES) on the mediation model. A total of 427 participants currently living in Malaysia (Mage = 37.90, SD = 16.51, 313 females) completed a survey on isolation, gratitude, and anxiety during a period of national lockdown. Results showed that that those with higher gratitude reported having less SI and FSI and less anxiety (Model 1). In Model 2 with age as moderator, young adults (YA) and middle-aged adults (MA) who had higher gratitude experienced lower SI and in turn had lowered anxiety, but such a mediating role of SI was not observed among older adults (OA). As for FSI, MA who had higher gratitude had lower FSI and also lower anxiety but this relationship was not observed in YA or OA. We also examined the role of education and SES as moderators in the parallel mediation analysis. Results showed that the indirect association of gratitude with anxiety via FI and FSI was moderated by both education and SES. Specifically, among those with low education levels (regardless of SES), those with higher gratitude had lower SI and FSI, which in turn reduced anxiety. This relationship is similar for those with medium levels of education and from low and middle levels of SES as well. Our findings highlight the importance of having some coping mechanism, for example, gratitude and social connection, during the pandemic to have higher well-being and quality of life, especially for MA sample and people from low education and SES backgrounds.
In this comprehensive study of the early development of guilt, 106 children were observed in laboratory paradigms in which they were led to believe that they had damaged valuable objects, during two ...separate sessions at each of the assessments at 22, 33, and 45 months. The behavioral and affective components of guilt cohered significantly across the sessions, converged with each other, were stable across all the assessments, and corresponded modestly with maternal reports. Most components decreased with age, except for bodily tension, which increased. At 33 and 45 months, girls displayed more guilt than did boys. Children who were more fearful in typical fear-inducing paradigms also displayed more guilt. Children of mothers who relied on more power-assertive discipline, observed and self-reported, displayed less guilt. Guilt related positively to the development of self at 18 months and to moral self at 56 months. Children who displayed more guilt were less likely to violate rules of conduct at 56 months. A mediational model was supported: Fearful temperament contributed to guilt proneness, which in turn served to inhibit children's tendency to violate rules.
Purpose
Academia is known for its high competitiveness, with prestige and diverse responsibilities and achievements being decisive determinants of success resulting in academic incivility. This paper ...extends Lazarus and Folkman's theory of stress by examining the moderating role of interpersonal justice (IJ) , as supervisory support, on academics' job satisfaction and depressivity.
Design/methodology/approach
The study recruited 185 academics from a public university in Malaysia to participate in a survey. Using the partial least squares- structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis, academic incivility was negatively related to job satisfaction, whilst positively related to depressivity.
Findings
As hypothesized, it was found that the predicted detrimental effect of academic incivility on job satisfaction was buffered by perceiving high IJ from their immediate supervisors, i.e. deans or heads of department. An unanticipated finding was that there was a stronger relationship between academic incivility and depressivity for those academics who perceived high supervisory IJ.
Practical implications
Further, academic management can formulate and revise zero-incivility policies and promote awareness explaining the detrimental impacts of incivility, despite support systems in academia.
Originality/value
This study provides the first empirical evidence showing the differential impact of supervisory IJ on two conditions of incivility–well-being relationships. Work culture and various sources of incivility should be considered for future research.
Past studies have shown evidence of transfer of learning in action video games, less so in other types, e.g. strategy games. Further, the transfer of learning from games to inhibitory control has yet ...to be examined from the perspectives of time constraint and logic contradiction. We examined the effect of strategy games (puzzle, turn-based strategy ‘TBS’, and real-time strategy ‘RTS’) on inhibition (response inhibition and distractor inhibition) and cerebral hemispheric activation over 4 weeks. We predicted that compared to RTS, puzzle and TBS games would (1) improve response and distractor inhibition, and (2) increase cerebral hemispheric activation demonstrating increased inhibitory control. A total of 67 non-habitual video game players (
M
age
= 21.63 years old, SD = 2.12) played one of three games: puzzle (
n
= 19), TBS (
n
= 24) or RTS (
n
= 24) for 4 weeks on their smartphones. Participants completed three inhibition tasks, working memory (WM), and had their tympanic membrane temperature (TMT) taken from each ear before and after playing the games. Results showed that only the puzzle game group showed an improved response inhibition while controlling for WM. There were no significant changes in the distractor inhibition tasks. We also found that there was an increase in left TMT while playing RTS, suggesting the presence of increased impulsivity in RTS. Our findings suggest that puzzle games involving logical contradiction could improve response inhibition, showing potential as a tool for inhibition training.
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