Author: engeladmin

Global mercury cycle

A review of global environmental mercury processes in response to human and natural perturbations: Changes of emissions, climate, and land use

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Author: Obrist, Daniel; Kirk, Jane L.; Zhang, Lei; Sunderland, Elsie M.; Jiskra, Martin; Selin, Noelle E. Description: We review recent progress in our understanding of the global cycling of mercury (Hg), including best estimates of Hg concentrations and pool sizes in major environmental compartments and exchange processes within and between these reservoirs. Recent advances include the availability of new global datasets covering areas of the world where environmental Hg data were previously lacking; integration of these data into global and regional models is continually improving estimates of global Hg cycling….

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Cat attachment and effect on human health

Does cat attachment have an effect on human health? A comparison between owners and volunteers

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Author: Dinis, Filipa A. B. S. G.; Martins, Thais Lima Fernandes Description: Cat owners and volunteers from a rehoming centre were given the Lexington Attachment to Pet Scale (LAPS) questionnaire to assess their level of attachment to their own or rescue cats. In addition, heart rate and blood pressure were measured 10 minutes before, during, and after spending time with the cats. Consistent with other studies, the results here show that spending time with a cat can reduce heart rate and both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and that this…

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Cat-human activities related to human well-being

Cat-human related activities associated with human well-being

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Author: Ravenscroft, Samantha J.; Barcelos, Ana Maria; Mills, Daniel S. Description: Besides inconsistent evidence relating to the mental health benefits of pet ownership, there is a specific lack of data in relation to cat ownership. Research in this field frequently fails to consider the effect of specific cat-human relationships or activities that might impact owner well-being. This study aimed to identify and address this gap by examining the activities associated with owning a cat that were perceived by owners to impact on their well-being. Twenty cat owners (18 to 74…

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Visual attention patterns dogs and cats

Visual Attention Patterns Differ in Dog vs. Cat Interactions With Children With Typical Development or Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Author: Grandgeorge, Marine; Gautier, Yentl; Bourreau, Yannig; Mossu, Heloise; Hausberger, Martine Description: Visual social attention is an important part of the social life of many species, including humans, but its patterning may vary between species. Studies on human-pet relationships have revealed that visual attention is also part of such interspecific interactions and that pets are sensitive to the human visual attentional state. It has been argued that domestication and/or repeated experiences with humans have shaped and refined these decoding abilities. Little is known on how the species’ evolutionary history may…

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Ways to play with cats (in this study)

Effects of the characteristic temperament of cats on the emotions and hemodynamic responses of humans

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Author: Nagasawa, Takumi; Ohta, Mitsuaki; Uchiyama, Hidehiko Description: Cats positive effects on their owners’ physiological and psychological health, including improved mood and activation of the human prefrontal cortex and inferior frontal gyrus in the brain. However, the association between the health benefits provided by cat ownership and the characteristic behaviors and reactions of cats is unclear. We recruited 29 participants to measure human prefrontal cortex activity, using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, during interactions with a cat. After the experiments, participants subjectively responded to a questionnaire regarding success rates for interactions with…

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Experiences of parents of autistic children who adopted a cat

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Author: Carlisle, Gretchen K.; Lamontagne, Angelique; Bibbo, Jessica; Johnson, Rebecca A.; Lyons, Leslie A. Description: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication. Autistic children suffer from social cognitive difficulties. There is no specific treatment for ASD, but ongoing individualized care can lead to an improvement in symptoms. Adopting a pet into a family with an autistic child is increasingly recognized as beneficial for improving some of the child’s social skills. Cats are the second most common pet in the homes of autistic…

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Traversing the flexible turn: US workers’ perceptions of job security, 1977-2002

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Author: Fullerton, Andrew S.; Wallace, Michael Description: This paper utilizes data from the General Social Survey from 1977 to 2002 to investigate trends in and determinants of US workers’ perceptions of job security. We find that perceived job security is impacted at the individual level by demographic factors such as race, age, education, earnings, part-time status, and occupation. With regard to age, our findings point to an increased sense of perceived insecurity at mid-career, which is contrary to previous research. This effect is distinctive from cohort effects and the linear…

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Subjective Employment Insecurity Around the World

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Author: Green, Francis Description: I consider the concept of employment insecurity (EI) and provide new evidence for 1997 and 2005 for many countries with widely differing institutional contexts and at varying stages of development. There are no grounds for accepting that workplaces were going through a sea change in EI. Workers in transitional economies and developing economies worried the most about insecurity. Insecurity tended to be greater for women, for less-educated and for older workers. However, these patterns vary across country groups, in ways that are only sometimes explicable in…

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Who Says Artificial Intelligence Is Stealing Our Jobs?

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Author: Dahlin, Eric Description: The author investigates survey respondents’ reports of job displacement due to artificial intelligence (AI) and concerns about AI-related job displacement. Accordingly, the author examines explanations of AI exceptionalism–the view that AI technology is unique and will have different job-related outcomes compared with previous technological advances–and the vulnerability of underprivileged groups. The findings support the AI exceptionalism view, indicating that white-collar occupations and those with technical experience are more likely to be at risk. The study also reveals that concerns about job loss are widespread, but those…

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Subjective Job Insecurity and the Rise of the Precariat: Evidence from the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States

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Author: Manning, Alan; Mazeine, Graham Description: There is a widespread belief that work is less secure than in the past, that an increasing share of workers are part of the “precariat.” It is hard to find much evidence for this in objective measures of job security, but perhaps subjective measures show different trends. This paper shows that in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, workers feel as secure as they ever have in the past 30 years. This is partly because job insecurity is very cyclical and (pre-COVID)…

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