Psychological traits of violent extremism investigated using new research tool

Dimensions of extremist archetypes include “adventurer”, “drifter” and “misfit”, among others

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PLOS

Researchers have developed and validated a new tool known as the Extremist Archetypes Scale to help distinguish different psychological traits found among people engaged in violent extremism. Milan Obaidi and Sara Skaar of the University of Oslo, Norway, and colleagues present the tool and validation results in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on July 20.

People who join violent extremist groups may differ widely in their motivations, knowledge, personalities, and other factors. However, research into violent extremism has often neglected this variation, limiting the scope and usefulness of such research. To help address this issue, Obaidi and colleagues built on earlier research to develop a new scale that captures heterogeneity among extremists.

Their new Extremist Archetypes Scale includes five dimensions of extremist archetypes: “adventurer,” “fellow traveler,” “leader,” “drifter” and “misfit.” An “adventurer,” for instance, may be drawn to extremism out of excitement and the prospect of being a hero, while a “drifter” may seek group belonging. The researchers chose to treat archetypes as dimensions in order to allow for instances in which an extremist does not fall perfectly within a single archetype and to be able to capture a person’s transition into an extremist archetype.

Next, the researchers conducted several analyses to help validate the Extremist Archetypes Scale. They tested associations between people’s scores on the scale and their scores on several well-established scales that evaluate personality traits, sociopolitical attitudes, ideologies, prejudice, and ethnic identification. In addition, they validated the scale’s applicability across diverse instances related to gender, political orientation, age, and ethnicity.

The validation analyses supported the predictive validity of the scale—including across political orientation and ethnicity—as well as the idea that the archetypes consistently reflect different personality and behavioral profiles. For instance, the “adventurer” archetype was associated with personality traits of extraversion and violent behavioral intentions, and the “misfit” was associated with narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy.

The researchers suggest that application of their scale in future research could help inform counter-extremism efforts. They also note that they focused on group-based extremism, but future research could examine archetypes of extremists who act alone.

The authors add: “The current research developed the Extremist Archetypes Scale, which measures different archetype dimensions that reflect different motivations for joining extremist groups and obtaining different roles within them.” 

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In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS ONE: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0270225

Citation: Obaidi M, Skaar SW, Ozer S, Kunst JR (2022) Measuring extremist archetypes: Scale development and validation. PLoS ONE 17(7): e0270225. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0270225

Author Countries: Norway, Denmark

Funding: The Strategic Research funds, 102603057. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

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JOURNAL

PLoS ONE

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0270225 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Measuring extremist archetypes: Scale development and validation

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

20-Jul-2022

Zoom calls between ideologically-opposed U.S. adults go better than they predict, and may help inform and soften attitudes

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PLOS

 

IMAGE: A) FLOW OF THE STUDY; B) THE INGROUP CONVERSATION, WHICH CONSISTED OF TWO SIMULTANEOUS 10-MINUTE CONVERSATIONS WITH TWO PARTICIPANTS OF THE SAME ATTITUDE ON THE ISSUE; C) THE CROSS-IDEOLOGICAL COMMUNICATION (CIC), WHICH CONSISTED OF TWO 15-MINUTE CONVERSATIONS WITH A PARTICIPANT OF THE OPPOSING ATTITUDE ON THE ISSUE. view more 

CREDIT: BINNQUIST ET AL., 2022, PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0 (HTTPS://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY/4.0/)

Article URL:  https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0270355

Article Title: The Zoom solution: Promoting effective cross-ideological communication online

Author Countries: U.S.A.

Funding: Funding support from 530 the Minerva Initiative, U.S. Department of Defense (13RSA281, PI: 531 MDL). URL: https://minerva.defense.gov/. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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JOURNAL

PLoS ONE

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0270355 

ARTICLE TITLE

The Zoom solution: Promoting effective cross-ideological communication online

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

20-Jul-2022

New study affirms environmental justice communities in RGGI states don’t equitably benefit from emissions reductions

Changes to policies that reduce electricity generation emissions needed to better serve overburdened communities

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS

WASHINGTON (July 20, 2022)—The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the first market-based emissions reduction program in the U.S. energy sector, was established in 2009. A new study published today in the peer-reviewed scientific journal PLOS One titled “Environmental justice and power plant emissions in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative states” is the first empirical assessment of disparities in pollutants from electricity generation within environmental justice communities in RGGI states.

“While the power sector has made progress in reducing emissions in the aggregate, current policies and market trends fail to address the fundamental problem of disparate pollutant burdens among communities,” said Dr. Juan Declet-Barreto, lead author of the study and a senior social scientist for climate vulnerability at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “The effect is that emissions reductions from power plants within RGGI states have largely benefitted non-environmental justice communities. Environmental justice communities have long shared their lived experience of being overburdened by harmful emissions and our study based on data from the plants themselves confirms this.”

The analysis, which focused on electricity generation in RGGI states during the time period of 1995 through 2015, finds significant differences in siting and operation of power plants located in communities of color and low-income communities compared to other communities. According to the study, the percentage of people of color who live less than 6.2 miles from a power plant is 23.5% higher than the percentage of white people in that same area. The percentage of people living in poverty within 5 miles of a power plant is 15.3% higher than the percentage of the population not living in poverty. Additionally, the environmental justice communities in the study also proportionately house more power plant units—often natural gas—than non-environmental justice communities, with 42.6% of environmental justice communities hosting multiple units compared to 28% of other communities.   

“Carbon dioxide is harmful and gets a lot of attention, but it’s not the only dangerous pollutant that power plants emit,” said Dr. Declet-Barreto. “Our study also included sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, co-pollutants that are well known to harm human health and are linked to premature deaths. Unlike carbon dioxide, which disperses globally, co-pollutants disperse regionally, meaning they can significantly impact the local communities where power plants are located.

“Understanding the local effects of electricity generation is crucial to make sure future emissions reduction policies are just and effective. Although power plants in RGGI states have seen a reduction in heat-trapping and co-pollutant emissions due to generation changes resulting from market trends and policies, the benefits are not reaching everyone equitably. The study suggests that additional targeted policies and standards that guarantee steep emission reductions in environmental justice communities are needed to solve the historical problem of disproportionate siting and operation of power plants, which increases the exposure of communities of color and low-income communities within RGGI states to harmful co-pollutants.”

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The Union of Concerned Scientists puts rigorous, independent science to work to solve our planet's most pressing problems. Joining with people across the country, we combine technical analysis and effective advocacy to create innovative, practical solutions for a healthy, safe, and sustainable future. For more information, go to www.ucsusa.org.

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JOURNAL

PLoS ONE

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.10012345 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Environmental justice and power plant emissions in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative states

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

20-Jul-2022

Designer materials to keep plastic out of landfills

Berkeley Lab technology provides low-carbon manufacturing solution for plastic products

Peer-Reviewed Publication

DOE/LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATIONAL LABORATORY

 

IMAGE: TWO DIFFERENT PDK PLASTICS IN ACIDIC SOLUTION, DEMONSTRATING HOW EACH POLYMER EASILY BREAKS DOWN INTO INDIVIDUAL MONOMERS IN DIFFERENT STEPS CONDUCTED AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES, WHICH ALLOWS FOR COMPLETE RECYCLING OF BOTH PLASTICS. view more 

CREDIT: JÉRÉMY DEMARTEAU/BERKELEY LAB

– By Alison Hatt

Scientists have designed a new material system to overcome one of the biggest challenges in recycling consumer products: mixed-plastic recycling. Their achievement will help enable a much broader range of fully recyclable plastic products and brings into reach to an efficient circular economy for durable goods like automobiles.

We generate staggering quantities of plastic and plastic-containing products each year, but only a tiny fraction of that plastic can be recovered and used to manufacture products of similar quality. That’s because most products, from food-packaging films and single-use bags to sneakers and electronics, are made from mixtures of different plastics, and once they are mixed, those plastics can’t be recovered and used to make new bags or sneakers. Instead, most of it ends up in landfills, incinerators, or oceans.

A team of scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) are tackling the mixed-plastic challenge using a custom-designed material called polydiketoenamine (PDK), a new type of plastic they developed to be recycled efficiently and indefinitely, providing a low-carbon manufacturing solution for plastic products that never have to end up in a landfill.

In a new study appearing in Science Advances, the team showed that they can create customized PDKs specifically tailored for mixed-plastic recycling and that they can fully recover the constituent plastics from a blended product composed of multiple PDKs and other common manufacturing materials. Brett Helms, of Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry, headed up the multidisciplinary team, which also included researchers from the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) and Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source, among others. The work is a major validation of a promising material and deepens our knowledge of polymer chemistry.   

“We now know how to tailor PDK plastics in order to recycle complex products comprising several types of materials,” said Helms. “An example might be a shoe, where a textile is bonded to a rubber by an adhesive. Conventional materials used in such products can’t be recycled for reuse, since they can’t be deconstructed independently. Yet, if they were made from different, specially designed PDK polymers, then they could be for the first time.”

Creating a designer material

PDKs and other plastics are known as polymers, materials in which the constituent molecules are long chains of small repeat units known as monomers. For this work, the researchers started by making a variety of PDKs with slightly different chemical structures and showed that each could be “depolymerized” or broken down to its respective monomers with high yields of recovery. This is essentially the process of plastic recycling, as those recovered monomers can then be used to create a new batch of PDK.

The team found that each PDK depolymerized at a different temperature and rate. To better understand those properties, they used theoretical calculations and computational models (density functional theory) to simulate the different polymers and explore how they form and depolymerize. Using those theoretical insights, the team identified the best PDK molecules for the job and further optimized their design.

“A particularly nice aspect of this work was the tight integration between the experiments and computations,” said Molecular Foundry Director Kristin Persson, who led the theoretical work. “By uncovering the mechanism underpinning circularity, we were able to design new polymers that retain recyclability. We are excited that these design insights will inform future work.”

“It’s through those interactions between theory and experiment that we build the knowledge and the framework to establish the design rules governing polymer reactivity,” said Helms. “We would only have observations otherwise, rather than an explanation.”

Mixed plastics? No problem

Using those optimized molecules, the researchers demonstrated the success of their material system by creating blended plastics, each made from two different PDKs, and then completely depolymerizing and recovering the constituent materials. They repeated the demonstration with PDKs of different colors, addressing a particular industry challenge, and showed that with a slightly more complex process they could once again recover the PDK monomers with high yields.

The team also showed how PDK can be used to make recyclable, flexible plastic packaging out of conventional plastics. They formed a multilayer film from common plastics – polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) – using a “tie layer” of PDK to bond them together. Normally the PP and PET couldn’t be extracted from a multilayer material, but here the researchers leveraged their control over the PDK layer to separate and recover the PP and PET films as well.

In a final demonstration of their powerful approach, the researchers constructed an object from a mix of different PDKs along with glass and stainless steel, to simulate the challenges of automobile recycling, and went through the recycling process again, demonstrating high-yield recovery of the PDK monomers as well as the glass and metal. These results could lead to a meaningful shift in how we approach the manufacture of durable goods, enabling a circular economy in which products are designed to be fully recovered and reused.

“Complex consumer products are simply not recycled today; they are either incinerated, landfilled, or downcycled,” Helms said. “Here we’ve laid the groundwork for how to recycle such products back to their original monomer building blocks, in stride facilitating the recovery of materials bound to them for reuse, including valuable metals or glass. In this way, PDK materials bring more circularity to manufacturing with intrinsically low carbon intensity.”

This research was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy and Berkeley Lab’s Laboratory Directed Research and Development program.

The Molecular Foundry and the Advanced Light Source are DOE Office of Science user facilities at Berkeley Lab. JBEI is a DOE Bioenergy Research Center managed by Berkeley Lab.

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Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest scientific challenges are best addressed by teams, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and its scientists have been recognized with 14 Nobel Prizes. Today, Berkeley Lab researchers develop sustainable energy and environmental solutions, create useful new materials, advance the frontiers of computing, and probe the mysteries of life, matter, and the universe. Scientists from around the world rely on the Lab’s facilities for their own discovery science. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory, managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.

 

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JOURNAL

Science Advances

DOI

10.1126/sciadv.abp8823 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

ARTICLE TITLE

Circularity in mixed-plastic chemical recycling enabled by variable rates of polydiketoenamine hydrolysis

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

20-Jul-2022

New academic program for healthcare professionals to lead the urgent redesign of America's healthcare systems

Program is the first master of science in health systems management engineering program on the west coast

POST MODERN TAYLORISM AND TQM FOR HEALTHCARE

Business Announcement

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

The University of Southern California (USC) Viterbi School of Engineering, in conjunction with the Keck School of Medicine at USC, and the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, has launched the first master of science in Health Systems Management Engineering (HSME) program on the West Coast. The program is now enrolling physicians, nurses, data & information technology professionals, quality improvement and patient safety specialists, and other administrative and operations staff interested in leading the transformation of the U.S. healthcare industry.  

This unique program offered by the Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering at USC Viterbi, aims to move graduates to the forefront of healthcare innovation and create new career paths.  Professionals will have the opportunity to re-imagine or re-engineer how healthcare can be delivered more efficiently and learn how better patient outcomes can be achieved. 

Students will have the opportunity to develop performance improvement and other industrial engineering skills, explore project and change management tools, and gain expertise in clinical informatics/data analytics, healthcare quality improvement, supply chain management, or other operational areas. Coursework focuses on improving and optimizing processes in healthcare, as well as strategies to help providers make decisions that are informed by data. Areas of focus can be customized through cross-campus electives.

David Belson, PhD, Program Director of the USC Viterbi M.S. in HSME Program, and an industrial engineer with over 30 years of experience, says, “The time for this program is now. Nationally, the pandemic has exposed critical staffing shortages, supply chain gaps, patient access inequities, and rising operational costs--to name just a few. The pandemic has accelerated the need for change, and increasingly, healthcare executives and key staff will need the skillsets offered by this program to understand and embrace new models of care.”

The HSME program was developed to be flexible for working professionals and is offered as a certificate or master’s degree program. It can be completed on a part-time basis while working, or full-time which takes approximately 18 months. Courses can be completed online remotely, in-person, or as a combination. The program content can also be tailored for a hospital, healthcare system, post-acute provider, professional association, and/or any other healthcare organization involved in staff education.  

Scholarships and financial aid are available.  Applications for the first round of scholarships are due by September 15, 2022.  A second round of applications is due March 1, 2023.  

For any questions regarding the program, please contact Professor Belson at Belson@usc.edu. For additional program information visit:

https://ise.usc.edu/healthcare-performance-improvement-program-at-usc/

‘Diesel nut’ development brings Texas A&M AgriLife, Chevron together

Collaboration will utilize peanuts to potentially develop feedstock for lower-carbon fuel production

Business Announcement

TEXAS A&M AGRILIFE COMMUNICATIONS

 

Written by Kay Ledbetter, 806-547-0002,  skledbetter@ag.tamu.edu   Peanut oil powered the world’s first diesel engine when it was premiered by Rudolf Diesel at the World Exposition in Paris in 1900. Now, a collaboration between Chevron and Texas A&M AgriLife is reviving the use of peanuts as a renewable feedstock for diesel fuel with a lower carbon intensity. John Cason, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Research peanut breeder, will lead the collaboration between Texas A&M AgriLife and Chevron to develop a “diesel nut” line of peanuts. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Sam Craft) Carbon intensity is the energy expended to produce a product, including production inputs such as water, pesticide and fertilizer, and how much net carbon that process adds to the atmosphere. Lower carbon intensity is important in developing sustainable agricultural practices. The five-year, multi-million-dollar project will be led by John Cason, Ph.D., a Texas A&M AgriLife Research peanut breeder at Stephenville. Development of the “diesel nut” will be multi-pronged and will include estimating economic feasibility, advancing existing high-oil peanut germplasm and developing new, low-input peanut lines for the renewable diesel industry. Co-leaders on the project are Luis Ribera, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service economist and director of Texas A&M’s Center for North American Studies, Bryan-College Station; Bill McCutchen, Ph.D., center director for Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center, Stephenville; and David Baltensperger, Ph.D., head of the Texas A&M Department of Soil and Crop Sciences. Cliff Lamb, Ph.D., director of AgriLife Research, Bryan-College Station, said this collaboration with Chevron gives AgriLife Research scientists a chance to develop peanuts that have a greater oil content and are better adapted to dryer climates — ultimately creating a more resilient agricultural system. “We hope these new peanut varieties will offer producers a profitable dryland or limited irrigation crop option,” Lamb said. “What makes this project truly exciting is that it takes the entire agricultural value chain into account, using cutting-edge research to create an abundant, affordable and high-quality product that works to protect natural resources, improve health and support economies in Texas and beyond. We appreciate the support of this work by Chevron.” Chevron is building the capacity to produce 100,000 barrels a day of renewable fuels in its manufacturing system by 2030. Securing a reliable source of lower lifecycle carbon intensity renewable feedstocks is a priority for the company.  “Chevron is thrilled to team with Texas A&M AgriLife to work to develop the next generation of renewable fuel feedstocks,” said Michelle Young, renewables program manager for Chevron Downstream Technology and Services. “This collaboration has the potential to deliver high-quality oil to produce renewable fuels while providing peanut farmers in the U.S. with another way to maximize the value of their operations.” “The Texas Peanut Producers Board is excited to support the ‘diesel nut’ project and views it as one more tool for farmers in Texas,” said Shelly Nutt, Texas Peanut Producers Board executive director. “Peanut farmers have long realized the value of using peanuts not only as a cash crop, but also as a crop that adds nutrients to the soil, creating a sustainable production system,” Nutt said. “With the success of this project, farmers could add a low-input, high-yielding ‘diesel nut’ with the ability to grow on marginal land or with limited water availability, into their rotation program and would not be competing with the high-quality, edible peanut market the board has worked so hard to achieve.” Increasing oil content in ‘diesel nut’ peanut varieties Currently, food-grade peanut varieties have an oil content of approximately 48%. However, several high-oil breeding lines have around 55-60% oil content. With those yields, “diesel nut” peanuts could yield as much as 350 gallons of oil per acre, compared to soybeans’ current oil yields of approximately 25 to 50 gallons per acre. John Cason, Ph.D., and Charles Simpson, Ph.D., in a peanut greenhouse at Stephenville where the “diesel nut” lines originated. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Sam Craft) AgriLife Research peanut breeders, including Michael Baring, Bryan-College Station; Charles Simpson, Ph.D., Stephenville; and Mark Burow, Ph.D., Lubbock, began working on high-oil breeding lines 15 years ago. Cason said four of those most promising lines were selected to begin studying the agronomics and yields.  “We also are developing new crosses and screening Texas A&M AgriLife germplasm, including the wild germplasm collection maintained by Simpson,” Cason said. “Our breeders are searching for germplasm with even higher oil content to develop the most elite cultivars that will also perform in dryland conditions and produce the highest oil content.” Producing ‘diesel nut’ varieties in non-irrigated areas Cason and team see possibilities to bring peanut production back to non-irrigated, rain-fed areas utilizing this high-oil germplasm. They will breed into these lines the qualities of improved disease and drought tolerance as well as continuing to increase oil content. He said major advances in disease resistance have already been made in food-grade peanut varieties, such as resistance to nematodes from wild species, Sclerotinia blight and tomato spotted wilt virus. These traits can now be incorporated into the “diesel nut” lines to create a robust renewable fuel feedstock. Texas A&M AgriLife Research’s “diesel nut” variety increases. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by John Cason) “With our edible breeding lines, we’ve also been looking at drought tolerance, but not on any of the lines producing higher oil,” Cason said. “Now we’ve pulled everything out and started planting in Vernon and Stephenville and will grow some under dryland and irrigation. We are treating this year as kind of a pilot year.” West Texas begins the peanut-planting season in late April and early May, while in South Texas, peanuts are planted as late as June 25. Harvest begins in October and is done by Thanksgiving. A peanut crop usually needs 27 inches of moisture from irrigation and rain. This typically produces about 5,000 pounds per acre of high-quality peanuts. In contrast, the drought-tolerant research at Lubbock studying peanut production with only 7-12 inches of rain produced about 2,800 pounds of edible peanuts per acre in 2020. “One thing that will help the ‘diesel nut’ succeed is that when you don’t irrigate a peanut, you run the risk of aflatoxin, which can be devastating to food-grade peanuts,” Cason said. “But that won’t matter when the crop is being crushed for biofuel, so regardless of how much moisture, if the grower can grow something, they can market it.” The goal now is to adapt “diesel nut” lines to new growing regions across Texas and the U.S. where the crop can perform under limited irrigation and dryland production. This, coupled with the development of best management practices for crop production systems and the logistics of harvest, transport and storage will be necessary to rapidly advance the production of renewable diesel feedstocks. Other ‘diesel nut’ project components A large contingent of Texas A&M AgriLife personnel will be working on the project, including agronomists, breeders, plant microbiologists, crop physiologists, biochemists, soil scientists, economists and crop modelers in College Station and at multiple Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Centers in key peanut production areas of the Rolling Plains, South Plains and South Texas. F1 “diesel nut” hybrid peanuts grow in a Texas A&M AgriLife Research greenhouse at Stephenville. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by John Cason) While Cason and the breeding team are developing breeding lines, Ribera will lead the development of risk-based, comprehensive enterprise budgets focused on the peanuts’ oil yield, reliability and viability as a renewable diesel feedstock. With that objective, Ribera’s team will include modelers who will assess transportation, shelling and crushing infrastructure as well as regulatory constraints to come up with the baseline carbon intensity. “When considering a renewable fuel source, every energy input into the production and processing of the peanuts until the fuel reaches the pumps will be important to determining the carbon intensity,” said Baltensperger. “We look at energy in for energy out and which is most carbon considerate. We want the carbon intensity baseline to be as low as possible if we are to optimize peanuts where it still makes sense to produce oil for fuel.” McCutchen said this project could bring peanut production back to areas that previously grew the crop but ran out of water. The agronomic side of the project will concentrate on peanut lines that can be grown on marginal lands and still give high per-acre vegetable oil yields. The team of cropping system specialists will also develop cropping systems that optimize growth, harvest and yield for “diesel nuts.” They will evaluate conservation tillage, as research in peanut-producing regions of Texas has shown that soil organic carbon increased by combining conservation tillage with cover crops. Rotational systems, cover crops, tillage and fertilizer practices will be evaluated under dryland and limited irrigation to create a cropping system with the lowest possible carbon footprint. High-throughput greenhouse assays will be used to find novel endophytes, which will be important for promoting drought tolerance and overall plant health. When enough information is available and advances are made, Emi Kimura, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension state peanut specialist, Vernon, will lead the outreach to inform producers about the research outcomes. “The end goal of this project is the commercialization of elite high-oil varieties that producers can plant and oil that Chevron can use,” said Carl Muntean, director of Texas A&M AgriLife Corporate Engagement and Research Support.  -30-

Introducing a protocol for using robotic pets in memory care

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF UTAH

 

IMAGE: A JOY FOR ALL COMPANION CAT view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO AND VIDEO ASSETS SHOULD BE CREDITED TO JOY FOR ALL COMPANION PETS/ AGELESS INNOVATION.

You might think it was a typical therapy session at a long-term care facility. In a quiet room, a therapist sets down a pet carrier, brings out a cat, and sets it on a resident’s lap. As the resident gently strokes the cat’s fur, it purrs, and the therapist asks the resident questions about their childhood pets, accessing long-ago memories.

The resident’s enjoyment of the session and the benefit for their well-being is real. But the animal is not. It’s a robotic pet with synthetic fur and programmed movements and sounds. But researchers are finding that robotic pets can be useful in therapy, without some of the disadvantages and unpredictability of real animals.

In a paper published in the Canadian Journal of Recreation Therapy, University of Utah researcher Rhonda Nelson and graduate student Rebecca Westenskow developed a protocol for using robotic pets with older adults with dementia. The protocol uses a low-cost robotic pet, establishes ideal session lengths, and identifies common participant responses to the pets to aid in future research.

“Our protocol had questions like: Would you like to scratch the dog behind his ears? Would you like to pet him? Would you like to brush him?” says Nelson, an assistant professor in the Department of Occupational and Recreational Therapies. “And then we were evaluating how people responded to those different cues so that we could then provide some guidelines to people on how to have the most beneficial actions with these animals.”

An affordable robotic pet

Nelson has watched the development of robotic pets for the past decade, intrigued by the potential to use them therapeutically in long-term and geriatric care settings. But until recently the price was prohibitive. “Having been a therapist myself and training our students to work as therapists, I’m very aware that most facilities would never be able to purchase them.”

But with the introduction of Ageless Innovation‘s Joy For All Companion pets in 2015, priced at under $150, widespread use of robotic pets as therapy “animals” seemed within reach. Robotic pets can get around many of the risks and drawbacks of live animals in long-term care settings. Many facilities don’t allow personal pets because of allergies, the potential for bites or scratches and other reasons.

Researchers have already begun to study how people with dementia interact with robotic pets, Nelson notes, but haven’t yet developed a unified protocol to give, say, assisted living staff a plan to gain the most benefit from the pets’ use through directed interaction.

“There was very little information on what people were doing with the pets,” Nelson says. “So without that guidance, it’s just a toy. And what do you do with it?”

Observing interactions

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the researchers met with five people between 82 and 87 years old living in long-term care facilities who experienced severe cognitive impairment. In two sessions of 30 minutes each, the researchers brought out either a robotic dog or a cat (participants’ choice) in a pet carrier.

“Many participants leaned toward the [robotic pet] as it was taken out of the pet carrier,” the researchers noted, “then instinctively reached for it and began petting, rubbing or scratching the pet when first introduced.”

Throughout the session, the researchers asked questions, both about the participants’ experiences with past pets and about interacting with the current robotic pet. “Did they have dogs or cats?” Nelson says, giving examples of typical questions. “What were their names? Did they keep them indoors or outdoors? What types of food did they eat?”

The researchers carefully observed the responses of the participants to the pets. The robotic pets moved and made sounds, which Nelson says helped the participants engage with them.

“When the dog would bark they would say things like, ‘Oh, are you trying to tell me something?’” she says. “Or they would comment on the cat purring and would say things like, ‘Wow, you must really be happy! I feel you purring.’ One of the activities that people responded to the most was brushing the animals.”

In one case, though, the session proceeded in silence. The participant had difficulty communicating their thoughts but stayed focused on the robotic dog throughout. By the end of the session, the participant seemed to develop a connection with the robotic animal, saying “I like that dog. When he likes me.”

Nelson is often asked if the participants with cognitive decline understand that the robotic pets are not alive. In this study, she says, they all seemed aware that it was not a live animal.

“Interestingly enough one of our participants was a retired veterinarian,” she says. “So I was very intrigued to see how he would interact with it.” He chose to have both the robotic dog and cat on his lap at the same time. “We would never tell somebody that it was live if they asked. We would be honest with them. We usually introduce it as ‘Would you like to hold my dog’ and people react to it or respond to it in a way that’s meaningful for them.”

Initial recommendations

Unfortunately, data collection was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. But the researchers were able to draw some conclusions.

All of the participants enjoyed the activity, with several saying they liked it “very much.” One participant didn’t like the sounds the pet made, which was easily remedied by turning off the sound—not an option for a live animal.

The questions that spurred the most response related to personal reminiscences and directions for interacting with the pet.

A common, yet unprompted behavior, the researchers’ report, was communication with the pet. “Several participants used comments, sounds, specific inflections and facial expressions spontaneously with the pets,” the researchers wrote. “Some participants imitated the animal sounds made by the [pet] and repositioned the pet to look at its face or make eye contact.”

Although more research is needed to determine the optimal session length, the researchers noted that the 30-minute sessions in the study were sufficient. Nelson also hopes to explore how people with varying levels of cognitive decline respond to the pets, as well as how they can be used in a group setting.

The study found that the most meaningful interactions and the most enjoyable experiences came when the participant self-directed the session.

“In recreational therapy, we always talk about providing person-centered care,” Nelson says. So it’s not really about what I think about an activity. If somebody enjoys it and it brings happiness to them, then it’s really about what they think about it.”

Why does interacting with robotic pets provide such an enjoyable experience?

“People in long-term care facilities are in a position where everybody provides care to them,” Nelson says, “and to be in the role where you are nurturing something else, or you are the caregiver I think is also psychologically very comforting for people to feel like, even though they know that it’s not live, they’re the person who’s giving love and compassion to something, and it’s responding.”

Find the full study here.

---

DOI

10.18666/CJRT-2022-V1-I1-11452 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Evaluation of a Robotic Pet Intervention Protocol for Older Adults with Dementia

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

19-Jul-2022

Thousands flee feuding Taliban in Afghanistan’s north

While the June fighting lasted only a few days, the United Nations says it displaced at least 27,000 people — almost all of them Hazara. (AFP)
Short Url


https://arab.news/6sam3
Updated 22 July 2022
AFP
July 22, 202209:40
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Ethnicity, religious sectarianism and a battle for a lump of Balkhab’s lucrative coal resources are at the heart of the fighting


DUZDANCHISMA, Afghanistan: When fighting erupted between Taliban forces and a breakaway group led by one of their former commanders in northern Afghanistan last month, Zahra and her family fled to the mountains.
For days they walked across the rocky terrain, unsure what lay ahead or when they might return to their home Sar-e Pol province’s Balkhab district, where the clashes erupted.
“We didn’t want to get trapped ... we all might have been killed,” said Zahra, 35, asking to use a pseudonym for security reasons.
Zahra’s family is among thousands that fled conflict between the Taliban and fighters loyal to Mahdi Mujahid, the group’s former intelligence chief for Bamiyan.
Ethnicity, religious sectarianism and a battle for a lump of Balkhab’s lucrative coal resources are at the heart of the fighting.
“All these factors are working together in driving the conflict,” Australia-based political analyst Nematullah Bizhan said.
Mujahid, a Shiite Hazara, joined the mostly Sunni and Pashtun Taliban in 2019, and was appointed to his post soon after the hard-line Islamists seized power in August last year.
Afghanistan’s Shiite Hazaras have faced persecution for decades, with the Taliban accused of abuses against the community when they first ruled from 1996 to 2001.
They are also the target of attacks by the Daesh group, which considers them heretics.
Mujahid’s appointment was initially seen as supporting the Taliban’s claim of being more inclusive to non-Pashtuns, but he soon fell foul of the leadership.
The group routinely denies reports of infighting in its ranks, but in June local media said Mujahid split with the Taliban leadership when Kabul sought greater control over the coal business.
Balkhab is home to several coal mines and demand has soared in recent months with Pakistan — in the grip of an energy crisis partly caused by rising oil prices — stepping up imports to fuel power plants.
Local Taliban commanders were known to “tax” trucks on their way to Pakistan — as officials in the previous government did before them — but when Mujahid resisted Kabul’s efforts to rein in the practice, they sacked him.
“Balkhab has a long history of resisting the government,” analyst Bizhan said, adding the region also fought strongly against the Taliban during their first reign.
While the June fighting lasted only a few days, the United Nations says it displaced at least 27,000 people — almost all of them Hazara.
The result is a humanitarian crisis that aid agencies are now struggling to deal with.
“We used to sleep thirsty on empty stomachs and wake up in the morning and start walking again,” said Zahra, whose family walked for nearly a fortnight before finding shelter in a village mosque in Bamiyan.
“Everyone was sick.”
The family of Barat Ali Subhani, another resident of Balkhab, has taken refuge in the same mosque.
“We didn’t have anything with us. We just left in clothes we were wearing,” Subhani said.
His seven-member family — including five children — walked for four days before a shepherd led them to the mosque.
“He saved us,” Subhani said.
“We had nothing. We thought that we will probably die.”
In the town of Duzdanchishma in Bamiyan, Najiba Mirzae has spent days treating those who fled Balkhab.
Many are pregnant women suffering from diarrhea, nausea and respiratory ailments caught while traveling through the mountains, said Mirzae, head of a local hospital.
Several UN aid agencies have tried to respond, but have not managed to reach all those displaced as many are still in the mountains.
“We couldn’t reach the area even after walking for five and half hours because the mules were unable to pass,” said Noryalai, who led a UNICEF team on one mercy mission.
In Balkhab, Mujahid and his followers have fled into the mountains, according to defense ministry spokesman Enayatullah Khwarizmi, and fighting has stopped.
But rights group Amnesty International accused Taliban forces of carrying out summary executions of civilians there — a charge denied by Kabul.
“People are scared, which is why they are still in the mountains,” one man said, asking for anonymity.

CRIMINAL CAPITALISM; GRAVE ROBBER

Ancient artifacts seized from US billionaire among 142 looted items returned to Italy

Oscar Holland - Yesterday 

New York officials have returned stolen antiquities worth nearly $14 million to Italy, including dozens of artifacts seized from US billionaire Michael Steinhardt.

Over a third of the 142 items handed back at a ceremony Wednesday had previously belonged to the former hedge fund manager, who was once among the world’s most prominent collectors of ancient art, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.

Among the repatriated artifacts was a 2,000-year-old fresco depicting a young Hercules strangling a snake. Worth an estimated $1 million, it was looted from an archaeological site near Italy’s Mount Vesuvius in 1995.


Over a third of the 142 items belonged to former hedge fund manager Michael Steinhardt. - Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

Later that year, Steinhardt purchased the work without seeing evidence of its ownership history, according to investigators. A further 47 objects from his collection were among the returned items.

In a statement, Italy’s consul general in New York, Fabrizio Di Michele, said the restitution was “very important for our country.”

The announcement follows a years-long investigation into Steinhardt, who avoided charges after he surrendered 180 artifacts, worth an estimated $70 million, and agreed to what officials called an “unprecedented” lifetime ban on acquiring antiquities.

In recent months, objects from his collection – ranging from statues and sculptures, to gold masks, bowls and ceremonial vessels – have been returned countries including Iraq, Israel and Turkey.


© Provided by CNNAncient artifacts seized from US billionaire among 142 looted items returned to ItalyThe "Ercolano Fresco," dating back to 50 C.E., was among the items repatriated. - Manhattan District Attorney

Among them was a $1.2 million marble statue of a veiled woman’s head, which was repatriated to Libya in January. A helmet thought to have belonged to Alexander the Great’s father, Philip of Macedon, was meanwhile handed back to Bulgaria. In February, 47 items from Steinhardt’s collection were returned to Greece, including a rare statue valued at $14 million.

The investigation looked at more than 1,000 antiquities linked to Steinhardt since at least 1987. Authorities found that he had possessed looted artifacts that had been smuggled out of 11 countries by 12 criminal networks.

Italy's consul general in New York said the restitution was "very important for our country." - Manhattan District Attorney's Office

Upon the investigation’s conclusion in December, Manhattan’s then-District Attorney, Cy Vance, Jr., said that Steinhardt had “displayed a rapacious appetite for plundered artifacts without concern for the legality of his actions, the legitimacy of the pieces he bought and sold, or the grievous cultural damage he wrought across the globe.”

In a statement provided to CNN at the time, Steinhardt’s lawyers, Andrew J. Levander and Theodore V. Wells Jr., said that their client was pleased that the investigation had concluded without any charges “and that items wrongfully taken by others will be returned to their native countries.”

They maintained that “many” of the dealers Steinhardt bought stolen artifacts from had “made specific representations as to the dealers’ lawful title to the items, and to their alleged provenance,” adding: “To the extent these representations were false, Mr. Steinhardt has reserved his rights to seek recompense from the dealers involved.”

Of the other 94 items returned to Italy Wednesday, 60 had been recovered from Royal-Athena Galleries, a now-defunct New York gallery founded by late antiquities dealer and forgery expert Jerome M. Eisenberg. The District Attorney’s office did not suggest any wrongdoing on the part of Eisenberg or Royal-Athena Galleries, which it thanked for “assistance and cooperation” in the investigation.

The other 34 objects were related to “other ongoing investigations.”

Top image: Some of the looted artifacts returned to Italy by New York officials.

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RUSSIAN ANTI-SEMITISM

Russia officially calls for «dissolution» of Jewish Agency operations in the country

Russian authorities on Thursday officially called for the "dissolution" of the Jewish Agency's offices in the country, filing an appeal to that effect with the Moscow district court, according to a court spokesman quoted by Russian media.


© Provided by News 360File - File image of a flag of Israel. - Jesús Hellín - Europa Press

This represents a major step forward in Russia's campaign against the Israeli quasi-governmental organization, which facilitates and encourages Jewish immigration to Israel.

Moscow's action against the organization that oversees immigration to Israel is seen as retaliation for Israel's stance on the Ukrainian war, while the agency has said its activities continue for now.

"The court received a lawsuit filed by the main department of the Justice Ministry in Moscow requesting the dissolution of the Jewish agency," the court has explained in a statement picked up by the Russian news agency.

Ekaterina Buravtsova, a spokeswoman for the Basmany court in Moscow, has been quoted by Russian agencies as saying that the request was made after legal violations, without providing further details, Interfax news agency has picked up.

"As we have previously stated, we do not make any comments during the course of the legal procedure," she has stated organization, as reported by 'The Times of Israel' newspaper.

In this regard, the Jewish Agency, which is responsible for facilitating and encouraging Jewish immigration to Israel, received a letter last month from the Russian authorities in which they made a series of difficult demands - to which the organization had no intention of agreeing - and threatened legal consequences if these demands were not met.