mudança climática e sustentabilidade ambiental - Aquecimento elevado, ozônio têm efeitos prejudiciais nas raízes das plantas, promovem a perda de carbono do solo

 July 9, 2021

Elevated warming, ozone have detrimental effects on plant roots, promote soil carbon loss, by North Carolina State University

[Hu said:] "Ozone and warming make the plants weak.
Plants try to maximize nutrient uptake, so
    their roots become thinner and longer as
        they need to exploit the sufficient volume of soil for resources.
            This weakness results in
                    a reduction of AMF and
                    faster root and fungal hyphal turnovers, which
                        stimulates decomposition and
                        makes carbon sequestration more difficult.
These cascading events may have profound effects underground, although the plant shoots appear normal in some cases."

Two factors that play a key role in climate change—increased climate warming and elevated ozone levels—appear to have 

- detrimental effects on soybean plant roots, their 

- relationship with symbiotic microorganisms in the soil and 

- the ways the plants sequester carbon.

The results, published in the July 9 edition of Science Advances, show few changes to the plant shoots aboveground but some distressing results underground, including 

an increased inability to hold carbon
    that instead gets released into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas.

North Carolina State University researchers examined the interplay of warming and increased ozone levels with certain important underground organisms—arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) - that promote chemical interactions that hold carbon in the ground by preventing the decomposition of soil organic matter, thereby halting the escape of carbon from the decomposing material.

"The ability to sequester carbon is very important to soil productivity—in addition to the detrimental effects of increasing greenhouse gases when this carbon escapes," said Shuijin Hu, professor of plant pathology at NC State and corresponding author of the paper.

Present in the roots of about 80% of plants that grow on land, AMF have a win-win relationship with plants.
AMF
- take carbon from plants and
- provide nitrogen and other useful soil nutrients that plants need in order to grow and develop.

In the study, researchers set up
- plots of soybeans with increased air temperatures of about 3 degrees Celsius,
- plots with higher levels of ozone,
- plots with higher levels of both warming and ozone, and
- control plots with no modifications.
The resulting experiments showed that warming and increased ozone levels make soybean roots thinner as they save resources to get the nutrients they need.

Soybean cultivars are often sensitive to ozone, Hu said. Ozone levels have been somewhat stable or even declining in some parts of the United States over the past decade but have risen dramatically in areas of rapid industrialization, like India and China, for example.

"Ozone and warming have been shown to be very stressful to a lot of crops—not just soybeans—and a lot of grasses and tree species," Hu said. "Ozone and warming make the plants weak. Plants try to maximize nutrient uptake, so their roots become thinner and longer as they need to exploit the sufficient volume of soil for resources. This weakness results in a reduction of AMF and faster root and fungal hyphal turnovers, which stimulates decomposition and makes carbon sequestration more difficult. These cascading events may have profound effects underground, although the plant shoots appear normal in some cases."

Hu said he was surprised that the plant shoots weren't greatly affected by the stresses of warming and ozone; the biomass of plant leaves in both control and experimental plots was about the same.

Perhaps even more surprisingly, Hu said that more warming and ozone changed the type of AMF that colonize soybean plants.

The study showed that levels of an AMF species called Glomus decreased with more warming and ozone, while a species called Paraglomus increased.

"Glomus protects organic carbon from microbial decomposition while Paraglomus is more efficient at absorbing nutrients," Hu said. "We didn't expect these communities to shift in this way."

Hu plans to continue to study the systems surrounding carbon sequestration in soil as well as other greenhouse gas emissions from soil, like nitrous oxide, or N₂O.

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Ozone pollution has increased in Antarctica

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More information: Y. Qiu el al., "Warming and elevated ozone induce tradeoffs between fine roots and mycorrhizal fungi and stimulate organic carbon decomposition," Science Advances (2021). advances.sciencemag.org/lookup … .1126/sciadv.abe9256

Teoria Racial Crítica - Como não fazer a cobertura jornalística da Teoria Racial Crítica.

 July 10, 2021

How Not to Cover Critical Race Theory, byJulie Hollar, at Fair.Org

 Too many in the media came to realize too late the danger of covering Trump as just another politician (FAIR.org, 12/1/16); it is urgent they don’t make the same mistake again.

After working the right up into a lather over Black Lives Matter (FAIR.org, 5/27/21), Fox News and its conservative media allies have turned white rage onto a more actionable target: critical race theory. Though the theory is a longstanding and specific academic lens for understanding systemic racism, the right has transformed it into a catchall for anything that encourages talking about and addressing racism.

 It’s textbook backlash politics:
- Racist police violence
    sparked a movement [around black lives matter] demanding 

        a re-examination of racism in America and 

        systemic reform that might challenge white privilege, 

- so the right launched its own movement
    to shut down conversations about 

        race and 

        white privilege 

            in any and all institutional arenas, most prominently 

                schools, 

                government offices (including the military) and 

                corporations, 

                        that could possibly make that happen.

It’s unsurprising that the right would turn the focus to white victimhood rather than anti-Black violence and discrimination. But mainstream corporate media have also given far too much space and legitimacy to the tactic. In June, 424 articles could be found in major US newspapers that mentioned “critical race theory,” according to a Nexis search–compared to four articles in August 2020, the month before the right-wing attack on critical race theory was rolled out on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show (9/2/20).

A July 6 USA Today editorial page dedicated to the CRT “debate” exemplified the wrong way to cover the issue. The editorial board’s own opinion was accompanied by not one but two opposing views: For the left, it tapped Kevin Cokley (7/5/21), a professor of African studies at the University of Texas, whose subhead argued, “I Always Challenge My Students and Never Place Racial Guilt on Them.“

 

In USA Today‘s print edition (7/6/21), this op-ed was headlined, “Teaching Critical Race Theory Is Patriotic, Not Anti-American.”

For the right, the paper invited Christopher Rufo (7/5/21), the right-wing provocateur (and Fox News regular) from the Manhattan Institute who invented the CRT-as-anything-conservatives-hate rallying cry. Rufo has explicitly stated that his

goal is to have the public read something crazy in the newspaper and immediately think “critical race theory.” We have decodified the term and will recodify it to annex the entire range of cultural constructions that are unpopular with Americans.

Rufo’s op-ed, “What I Discovered About Critical Race Theory in Public Schools and Why It Shouldn’t Be Taught,” carried the subhead: “State Legislatures Are Wise to Ban Schools From Promoting Race Essentialism, Collective Guilt and Racial Superiority Theory.”

 

USA Today (7/5/21) provided space to the critic who said he wanted to “recodify” critical race theory to “annex the entire range of cultural constructions that are unpopular with Americans.”

 Note the emphasis on white guilt in both subheads. 

The debate centers on 

        whether CRT should be taught, but 

            the question is hinged on 

                whether white students might be made to feel any responsibility for 

                    historical and contemporary racism and white privilege

                                —the implicit assumption being that they should not. 

It’s quite a victory for the right, which just a year earlier was uncomfortably forced to debate whether police are killing too many Black people.

The paper’s editorial board (7/5/21), for its part, staked out a “middle” ground: “Critical Race Theory Fear a Mix of the Predictable, the Outlandish and the Justified.” While some criticism is explicitly “justified,” at times critics have gone too far, it suggested: “Responding to all these concerns by policing classroom discussions about race with a state law is like using a shotgun to drive mosquitoes out of a bedroom.”

The mosquito simile suggests that existing culturally responsive curricula in schools aren’t exactly dangerous, but certainly annoying, and worth getting rid of—presumably with a flyswatter rather than a shotgun. The board prefers that “school board members, principals and teachers themselves” make curriculum decisions.

Of course, the right is working that angle, too, trying to take over school boards with activists, which would render USA Today‘s position even more untenable. This isn’t an issue that can be both-sidesed or depoliticized. Media need to treat it as it is: an attempt to shut down speech across institutions when power is being challenged.

Kimberlé Crenshaw (MSNBC, 7/6/21): “When we start dictating what can be taught, what can be said, and what is unsayable, we are well, well down the road towards an authoritarian regime.”

As Kimberlé Crenshaw, one of critical race theory’s earliest exponents, told MSNBC (7/6/21):

Understand what risk we all face if they are allowed to dictate what can be said, what can be taught, what can be learned, who can vote, and who can protest. This is a recurrence of redemption. All of these things are exactly what happened at the end of Reconstruction….

When we start dictating what can be taught, what can be said, and what is unsayable, we are well, well down the road towards an authoritarian regime. People keep asking, “Can it happen here?” If you look at Black history, it has happened here.

Racism will be the vehicle through which authoritarianism rises in this country. That’s what we’re seeing happening right now. And the only question is whether people who believe in this country, if they recognize that they have a dog in this fight. Only if people wake up and see that this implicates all of us can we have hope that this is not going to be a replay of redemption in the 19th century.

Crenshaw may have been talking about the public generally, but major media, with their key role in framing narratives and legitimizing political positions, are certainly implicated as well. Too many in the media came to realize too late the danger of covering Trump as just another politician (FAIR.org, 12/1/16); it is urgent they don’t make the same mistake again.

FAIR’s work is sustained by our generous contributors, who allow us to remain independent. Donate today to be a part of this important mission.

gênero - Compreendendo o preconceito nas avaliações de mulheres por liderança

 July 8, 2021

Understanding bias in leadership assessments of women

by Christine Billau, University of Toledo

A new study conducted before COVID-19 busted open the leaky pipeline for women in leadership underscores the bias that men are naturally presumed to have leadership potential and women are not and highlights the increased efforts needed by organizations to address the incorrect stereotype post-pandemic.

The research published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology highlights the continuing bias in leadership assessments of women, explores the contradictions between the perception and the reality of women's leadership, and shows why the slow rate of career advancement for women will likely continue at a snail's pace.

"The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women's career progression will likely be felt for years to come as many women stepped away from the workforce," said Dr. Margaret Hopkins, professor of management in The University of Toledo's John B. and Lillian E. Neff College of Business and Innovation and lead author of the study. "This can only exacerbate the slow progress of women moving more fully into senior leadership roles—something that organizations and society must be fully attentive to correcting."

The contemporary view of effective leadership places a strong emphasis on social skills, flexibility and engaging others, behaviors typically associated with women.

But when women exhibit gender role behaviors such as teamwork and empathy, they also pay a price in their leadership performance assessments.

Based on data collected from a sample of 91 senior leaders in one U.S. financial services organization over three years, women were penalized in performance evaluations when they displayed those leadership characteristics.

On the other hand, women also were viewed negatively when exhibiting stereotypical masculine behaviors such as a competitive drive to achieve, task orientation and directing others. Men were positively evaluated for their leadership potential when exhibiting those same behaviors.

"Entrenched archetypes that define leadership as a masculine enterprise remain in spite of data that relates more stereotypical feminine behaviors to effective leadership," said Hopkins, an expert on women in leadership, executive coaching and emotional intelligence. "Our study found no evidence of acknowledging this more contemporary view of leadership when organizations actually assess women's performance and potential for leadership."

The researchers discovered that whether women demonstrated people-oriented, relational skills or whether they exhibited achievement-oriented behaviors, there was a negative effect on their leadership performance assessments and leadership potential appraisals. However, this was not the case for the male leaders in the study.

In order to change the dynamic, Hopkins said there are best-practice strategies that both women and organizations can take.

"My co-authors and I do not support the notion that the onus is on the women to change," Hopkins said. "Rather, organizational structures and systems must change to provide leadership opportunities for both women and men in equal measure."

She said organizational decision-makers can investigate organizational policies and practices to determine how they might be contributing to impediments for women in leadership roles.

Not only should leadership assessment instruments be examined for possible bias, but also the methods by which individuals conduct assessments of women leaders should be reviewed for inherent bias.

"Hiring procedures, training and development opportunities, benefits packages, leave policies, and performance, salary and promotional evaluations can all play a part in contributing to gender stereotypes," Hopkins said. "Organizational systems that rely on a limited framework for essential leadership behaviors will restrict their ability to recruit and develop outstanding leaders."

To help mitigate these inaccurate perceptions and biases of their leadership performance and potential, Hopkins suggests that women find both female and male allies and sponsors, create strategic networks, seek high-profile assignments to highlight their skills and abilities, and develop and communicate their individual definitions of career success.

The financial services organization at the focus of this study is one of the Top 100 U.S. Best Banks named by Forbes magazine. The sample of senior leaders included 26 women and 65 men, representative of the gender composition of the senior leadership team.

The researchers said a comparison of males and females in one organization ensured that any observed gender differences were not due to factors such as differences in industries or management hierarchies across organizations.

Researchers from UToledo, Bowling Green State University, Case Western Reserve University and San Diego Gas and Electric collaborated on the study.

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Explore further

New study shows that men receive more actionable feedback than women in the workplace

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More information: Margaret M. Hopkins et al, Buried Treasure: Contradictions in the Perception and Reality of Women's Leadership, Frontiers in Psychology (2021). DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.684705

Atividade Física e Cognição em adultos mais velhos

 

July 8, 2021 report

Using post-mortem MRI scans to study association between physical activity and cognition in older adults,  by Bob Yirka , Medical Xpress

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

A team of researchers working at the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center in Chicago, has found that it is possible to use post-mortem MRI scans to study associations between physical activity and cognition in older adults. They have written a paper describing their work and have uploaded it to the open-access site, PLOS ONE.

Prior research has suggested that physical activity later in life can promote healthier grey matter in the brain. More recently, some research has suggested the same might be true for white matter. In this new effort, the researchers wondered if it might be possible to use MRI scans taken after death to learn more about the benefits of exercise on cognitive skills for older people.

To find out if that might be the case, the researchers looked to the Rush University Memory and Aging Project. Researchers and volunteers with the project (which has been going on since 1997) have been using fitness trackers to compare differences in cognitive abilities between older participants in the project depending on how much they exercise. Volunteers are asked to wear a watch-like device that monitors their physical activity for up to 10 days at a time. That data is then compared with other data obtained by asking the same volunteers to undergo cognitive testing. In comparing data from the two sources, the researchers are hoping to learn more about the impact of exercise on cognitive abilities as people age.

The researchers with this new effort, carried out MRI scans on 318 of the volunteers in the project after they had died (average age at time of death was 91.1 years) to see if they could spot any changes in brain matter that might have resulted from participating in physical exercise.

In comparing data gathered while the volunteers were still alive and in the project with the MRI images taken and also from in vivo testing, the researchers found what they describe as a link between daily activity levels, white brain tissue microstructure and overall cognition levels. More specifically, they found two metrics related to brain structure that they were able to associate with daily physical activity and cognitive abilities—metrics that they suggest might explain the benefits of physical activity on improved cognition.

---

Explore further

Spending time on household chores may improve brain health

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More information: Robert J. Dawe et al, Physical activity, brain tissue microstructure, and cognition in older adults, PLOS ONE (2021). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253484

Labor Market - “Uber, Lyft created ride-hailing shortage: Gig economy expert” [Yahoo Finance!].

  “Uber, Lyft created ride-hailing shortage: Gig economy expert” [Yahoo Finance!].

“Workers are leaving ride-hailing jobs, creating a severe labor shortage in the gig economy. Many of the problems leading up to this shortage were created by Lyft and Uber themselves, Aquent CEO John Chuang said Tuesday. ‘One, [ride-sharing companies] have very low wages,’ Chuang said. ‘And they are very undesirable jobs. Now that we have 7 million less employed workers in America right now, you know, the first jobs to go are the undesirable jobs. And unfortunately, their jobs are undesirable.’ Chuang identified the jobs’ lack of benefits and low wages as significant drawbacks to ride-hailing employment opportunities. Workers in this market do not have a Social Security net to fall back on, Chuang said, making ride-sharing a much riskier living than traditional jobs. ‘And so workers are voting with their feet,’ he said. ‘And they’re leaving these gig economy jobs.'”

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2021/07/200pm-water-cooler-7-8-2021.html