Search

What are the things that we think matter morally, and how do societal factors influence this? To date, research has explored several individual-level and historical factors that influence the size of our 'moral circles.' There has, however, been less attention focused on which societal factors play a role. We present the first multi-national exploration of moral expansiveness-that is, the size of people's moral circles across countries. We found low generalized trust, greater perceptions of a breakdown in the social fabric of society, and greater perceived economic inequality were associated with smaller moral circles. Generalized trust also helped explain the effects of perceived inequality on lower levels of moral inclusiveness. Other inequality indicators (i.e., Gini coefficients) were, however, unrelated to moral expansiveness. These findings suggest that societal factors, especially those associated with generalized trust, may influence the size of our moral circles.

What are the things that we think matter morally, and how do societal factors influence this? To date, research has explored several individual-level and historical factors that influence the size of our ‘moral circles.' There has, however, been less attention focused on which societal factors play a role. We present the first multi-national exploration of moral expansiveness—that is, the size of people’s moral circles across countries. We found low generalized trust, greater perceptions of a breakdown in the social fabric of society, and greater perceived economic inequality were associated with smaller moral circles. Generalized trust also helped explain the effects of perceived inequality on lower levels of moral inclusiveness. Other inequality indicators (i.e., Gini coefficients) were, however, unrelated to moral expansiveness. These findings suggest that societal factors, especially those associated with generalized trust, may influence the size of our moral circles.

People cooperate every day in ways that range from largescale contributions that mitigate climate change to simple actions such as leaving another individual with choice - known as social mindfulness. It is not yet clear whether and how these complex and more simple forms of cooperation relate. Prior work has found that countries with individuals who made more socially mindful choices were linked to a higher country environmental performance - a proxy for complex cooperation. Here we replicated this initial finding in 41 samples around the world, demonstrating the robustness of the association between social mindfulness and environmental performance, and substantially built on it to show this relationship extended to a wide range of complex cooperative indices, tied closely to many current societal issues. We found that greater social mindfulness expressed by an individual was related to living in countries with more social capital, more community participation and reduced prejudice towards immigrants. Our findings speak to the symbiotic relationship between simple and more complex forms of cooperation in societies.

The efficient transfer of photogenerated carriers and improved stability against corrosion are essential to maximize the performance of photoanodes. Herein, a reduced catalytic layer formed on a TiO2 protected BiVO4 (R-TiO2@BiVO4) photoanode has been prepared for progress on both fronts. Specifically, R-TiO2@BiVO4 photoanodes at pH 8 displayed a high photocurrent of 2.1 mA cm–2 at 1.23 VRHE and a more negative onset potential of 234 mVRHE compared to pristine BiVO4. We here discovered two surface states on BiVO4 photoanodes through photoelectrochemical impedance studies. In contrast, only one of them, located at higher potential, appeared on oxygen-vacancy-rich R-TiO2@BiVO4 photoanodes. For BiVO4 photoanodes, the first surface state (SS1) is located near the onset potential (∼0.45 VRHE), while the second surface state (SS2) sits near the water oxidation potential (∼1.05 VRHE). However, SS1 at lower energetics, which originated from water oxidation intermediates with slow kinetics, is passivated in R-TiO2@BiVO4 photoanodes. In contrast, the hole densities in SS2 at higher energetics were greatly enhanced in R-TiO2@BiVO4 photoanodes, due to the increased accumulation of intermediates with fast water oxidation kinetics. Therefore, SS2 is proposed as a reaction center, which is related to the amount and occupancy of oxygen vacancies. Additionally, surface recombination centers in BiVO4 photoanodes are passivated by TiO2, which prevents electron trapping into the irreversible surface conversion of VO2+ to VO2+. These observations provide fundamental understanding of the role of surface states and of the function of oxygen vacancies in BiVO4 photoanodes. Our study offers detailed insight into key strategies for optimal photoelectrochemical performance through surface property tuning.

We report on electrochromic properties of stoichiometric and oxygen-deficient amorphous films, denoted aWO3-x and aTiO2-x, under Li+-ion-electron inter/deintercalation. Optical characterization of the films in their as-deposited, fully intercalated (dark), and bleached states were performed by in-situ optical transmittance measurements. We explore electrochromism and optical absorption phenomena in the context of oxygen deficiency and nanostructure. Studies by cyclic voltammetry suggest good optical modulation and charge capacity upon Li+-ion-electron inter/deintercalation for almost stoichiometric films. Full-text · Article · Nov 2014 · Journal of Physics Conference Series

La utilización de productos con bajo o nulo impacto en organismos circundantes y el ambiente, constituye parte del nuevo concepto de protección de cultivos. Los productos NeoNim 60 y OleoNim 80, obtenidos del árbol del Nim, están propuestos para su uso como insecticida, nematicida y acaricida. Con el objetivo de realizar la evaluación ecotoxicológica de estos productos, se realizaron los ensayos de toxicidad aguda en lombriz de tierra Eisenia andrei y de toxicidad aguda por contacto en abejas Apis mellifera. Cada ensayo contó con un grupo control y dos tratados. El ensayo en lombrices se realizó durante 14 días utilizando suelo artificial, realizando observaciones clínicas, conteo de animales y estudio del comportamiento de la biomasa. La prueba en abejas se prolongó por 48 horas, realizándose observaciones clínicas y conteo de animales. Se obtuvo un 100% de supervivencia en las lombrices de los grupos tratados, obteniendo en el NeoNim 60 valores de disminución de la biomasa significativamente inferiores al grupo control, mientras que el grupo tratado con OleoNim 80 mostró aumento en la biomasa del inicio al final del ensayo. En el ensayo en abejas, la comparación estadística no mostró diferencias entre grupos en cuanto a la mortalidad. Teniendo en cuenta el conjunto de los resultados obtenidos, se pudo concluir que los derivados del Nim NeoNim 60 y OleoNim 80 no producen efecto tóxico sobre las lombrices de tierra ylas abejas., The use of products with low or null impact in surrounding organisms and the environment constitutes part of the new concept of crop protection. The products NeoNim 60 and OleoNim 80, obtained from the Neem tree, are proposed for its use as insecticide, nematicide and acaricide. With the objective of perform the ecotoxicological assessment of these products, it were carried out the earthworm acute toxicity and the honey bee acute contact toxicity tests. For each assay two Treated and one Control group were established. The assay in earthworms Eisenia andrei was carried out during 14 days using artificial soil, with daily clinical observations, count of animals and study of the changes of the biomass. The test in honey bees Apis mellifera was prolonged for 48 hours, with daily clinical observations and count of animals. A survival of 100% was obtained in the earthworms of the Treated groups, obtaining in the NeoNim 60 group significative lower values of biomass when compared to the Control, while the group treated with OleoNim 80 showed an increase in the biomass from the beginning to the end of the assay. In the assay in bees, the statistical comparison didn't show differences among groups as for the mortality. Taken into account the obtained results, it could be concluded that the Neem derivatives NeoNim 60 and OleoNim 80 don't produce toxic effect on the earthworms and the honeybees.