Asian Americans and workplace discrimination: The interplay between sex of evaluators and the perception of social skills

In two role‐playing scenarios, we investigate how White male and female evaluators perceive an Asian American versus White job candidate on the dimensions of competence and social skills and how these perceptions affect evaluators' decisions in hiring and promotion. Specifically, Study 1 examines how the perceptions of competence and social skills affect Asian (versus White) college graduates' chance of obtaining a non‐technical (versus technical) position, and Study 2 tests how these perceptions affect Asians' probability of promotion relative to Whites'. Our findings suggest that female evaluators were less likely to select Asian than White candidates into positions involving social skills and were less likely to promote Asian than White candidates into these types of positions. Furthermore, female evaluators' perception that Asians were less socially skilled than Whites mediated both of these decisions. This paper contributes to the understanding of workplace discrimination of Asian Americans. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sex pheromone of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ectinus aterrimus</Emphasis> (L<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">inné</Emphasis>, 1761) (Coleoptera: Elateridae)

Summary.   Ectinus aterrimus (L.) is a fairly common European click beetle species which develops mainly in forests. In pheromone gland extracts of female E. aterrimus, examined using gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC-MS), one single compound was present. This was identified as 7-methyloctyl 9-methyldecanoate by comparison with a synthetic sample. Field trapping trials revealed a highly significant attraction of male E. aterrimus towards this ester. The structure of the compound differs remarkably from the pheromones of the closely related Agriotes spp., which exclusively use terpene esters.     

Insights from complete-incomplete brood sex-ratio disparity

An assertion deeply rooted in the ornithological literature holds that sex-specific mortality causes a sex ratio disparity (SRD) between complete and incomplete broods. Complete broods are thought to reflect the primary sex ratio before any bias introduced by developmental mortality. Contrary to this view, however, complete and incomplete broods should exhibit identical sex ratio distributions even when the sexes experience differential mortality, as shown in the classic paper of Fiala (Am Nat 115: 442–444, 1980). Therefore, in partially unsexed samples, primary sex ratio biases cannot be distinguished from biases caused by differential mortality. In addition, complete broods do not represent primary sex ratio more accurately than incomplete ones and might even be misleading. Despite Fiala’s prediction, SRD does occur in some empirical studies. We show that this pattern could arise if (1) primary sex ratio affects chick mortality rates independently of sex (direct effect), (2) primary sex ratio covaries with a variable that also affects mortality rate, or (3) sex differential mortality covaries with overall mortality rate (indirect effects). Direct effects may cause stronger SRD than indirect ones with a smaller and opposite bias in the overall sex ratio and could also lead to highly inconsistent covariate effects on brood sex ratios. These features may help differentiate direct from indirect effects. Most interestingly, differences in covariate effects between complete and incomplete broods imply that influential variables are missing from the analysis.     

甾体雌激素废水中优势降解菌的分离及特性

从某避孕药生产厂污水处理站好氧池活性污泥中通过富集驯化,分离到一株降解甾体雌激素(3-甲氧基-17a羟基-1,3,5(10),8(9)-雌甾-4-烯,简称MHE)的细菌ZY3菌株.经形态及16SrDNA序列分析初步鉴定,该菌株属于Raoultella属(Raoultellasp.).经过对ZY3菌株以MHE为唯一碳源生长和降解特性的分析表明,ZY3菌株利用MHE生长的最适温度和pH值分别为35℃和10.0,72h内的最适降解浓度为10mg/L.加入营养物质麦芽糖和蛋白胨能促进菌株对底物的降解,在72h内降解率达到了87%和85%.     

The sex in short supply for matings varies over small spatial scales in a katydid (Kawanaphilanartee, Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae)

In katydids such as Kawanaphilanartee, a female bias in the operational sex ratio (OSR) results in female competition for mates and male choice of mates. Previous work showed that the excess of sexually active females occurs when food availability is low, in part because less food increases the propensity of females to mate as they forage for the large edible spermatophores produced by males. In this study with K.nartee, a pollen-feeding species, we estimate natural variation in numbers of sexually active males and females by assessing male calling activity and the propensity of females to respond to experimental calling males. We found an excess of sexually active males at a site with many flowers and an excess of sexually active females at a site with few flowers about 900 m away. Between-site differences in gut masses of calling males were consistent with the hypothesis that pollen availability controls OSR. Finally, at a third site where flowers were at first scarce, we found that the initial excess in sexually active females changed to an excess of sexually active males after a clump of grass-trees flowered. The mean gut mass of all sampled males from this site increased after flowering. The large variation in OSR that we document for K. nartee highlights the importance of identifying the appropriate spatial and temporal scales over which OSRs are measured in studies of factors controlling sexual selection. Received: 13 May 1997 / Accepted after revision: 27 October 1997     

家蚕斑纹限性品种SC_1的RAPD差异DNA片段的克隆及其酶切图谱分析

利用RAPD技术对家蚕限性普斑品种SC1的雌雄体分别进行PCR扩增通过120种引物的筛选,得到1个雌体特异的RAPDDNA片段将该片段克隆到pUC19质粒,井进行了限制性内切酶图谱分析.     

北京市居家空气微生物粒径及分布特征研究

室内外空气微生物对人们健康的危害不仅与微生物的种类和浓度有关,而且还与微生物粒子的大小及粒径分布特征密切相关,并且不同粒径的空气微生物对人们健康影响的作用机制不同.在北京市不同方向选取31户有1～10岁儿童的家庭进行空气微生物取样,系统研究了室内家庭空气微生物粒径及分布特征.结果表明,室内空气细菌和真菌粒径分布特征不随家庭环境、季节特征、儿童性别、房屋结构的变化而变化,但空气细菌和真菌的粒径分布特征不同.总体上空气细菌和真菌粒径均呈对数正态分布,但空气细菌粒子百分比从Ⅰ级(>8.2μm)到Ⅴ级(1.0～2.0μm)逐渐增加,Ⅵ级(<1.0μm)细菌粒子百分比急剧下降,最高值出现在Ⅴ级,而空气真菌粒径百分比从Ⅰ级～Ⅳ级(2.0～3.5μm)逐渐增加,而后从Ⅳ级～Ⅵ级真菌粒径百分比急剧下降,最高值出现在Ⅳ级.不同优势真菌属的粒径分布也不相同,枝孢属、青霉属和曲霉属呈对数正态分布,最高值出现在Ⅳ级,而链格孢属为偏态分布,最高值出现在Ⅱ级(5.0～10.4μm).室内空气细菌的中值直径明显大于空气真菌,1 a中空气细菌和真菌春、夏、秋季的粒径明显大于冬季.     

Successful outcome of pregnancy after treatment of maternal anti-ro (SSA) antibodies with immunosuppressive therapy and plasmapheresis

In this short communication we describe a patient with anti-SSA and anti-SSB antibodies whose first child died of congenital complete heart block (CCHB). During her second pregnancy she was treated with prednisolone, azathioprine, and plasmapheresis, and levels of anti-SSA and anti-SSB antibodies fell significantly. The pregnancy evolved uneventfully and resulted in the birth of an unaffected male infant. This is the fourth reported case of a successful outcome of pregnancy after treatment with immunosuppressive drugs in a woman with a significant risk of recurrence of CCHB.     

An evaluation of a shared experience group for women and their support persons following prenatal diagnosis and termination for a fetal abnormality

Objectives Support after fetal diagnosis of abnormality (SAFDA), is a facilitated shared experience group for women and their partners or support person, in Victoria, Australia, who have had a pregnancy termination for a fetal abnormality. The objective of this study was to evaluate the SAFDA-facilitated group. Methods A questionnaire-based study was undertaken between 2001 and 2005 to evaluate SAFDA. A deidentified self-completed questionnaire was given to participants at the end of each group and included questions relating to the referring professional, participants' prior expectations of the group, helpfulness of participation, preferred group format, length, and venue. In addition, there was also opportunity for participants to make general comments on their experiences of participating in SAFDA. Results A total of 85 participants (100% response) completed the questionnaire. Seventy-one participants (84%) considered it ‘very helpful’ to participate in the group. Seventy-eight participants (92%) considered that a shared-experience group was the most beneficial format. Comments written by participants affirmed that the present format of SAFDA was a highly valued opportunity to listen to and share experiences in a confidential small group. Conclusion SAFDA is a beneficial forum for women and their partners or support person to share their experiences after having had a pregnancy termination for a fetal abnormality. Further, SAFDA provides information and insights for health professionals who are considering how best to support women. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.