bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Substrate-induced strain and charge doping in CVD-grown monolayer MoS2
Authors: Chae Woo Hyun , Cain Jeffrey D. , Hanson Eve D. , Murthy Akshay A. , Dravid Vinayak P.
Published: October 2017

Due to its electronic-grade quality and potential for scalability, two-dimensional (2D) MoS2 synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) has been widely explored for electronic/optoelectronic applications. As 2D MoS2 can be considered a 100% surface, its unique intrinsic properties are inevitably altered by the substrate upon which it is grown. However, systematic studies of substrate-layer interactions in CVD-grown MoS2 are lacking. In this study, we have analyzed built-in strain and charge doping using Raman and photoluminescence spectroscopy in 2D MoS2 grown by CVD on four unique substrates: SiO2/Si, sapphire, Muscovite mica, and hexagonal boron nitride. We observed decreasing strain and charge doping in grown MoS2 as the substrates become less rough and more chemically inert. The possible origin of strain was investigated through atomic force microscopy roughness measurements of the as-grown layer and substrate. Our results provide direction for device optimization through careful selection of the growth substrate and pave the way for further investigations to unravel the complex nature of the 2D monolayer-substrate interface.
Simple single-emitting layer hybrid white organic light emitting with high color stability
Authors: Nguyen C. , Lu Z. H.
Published: October 2017

Simultaneously achieving a high efficiency and color quality at luminance levels required for solid-state lighting has been difficult for white organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). Single-emitting layer (SEL) white OLEDs, in particular, exhibit a significant tradeoff between efficiency and color stability. Furthermore, despite the simplicity of SEL white OLEDs being its main advantage, the reported device structures are often complicated by the use of multiple blocking layers. In this paper, we report a highly simplified three-layered white OLED that achieves a low turn-on voltage of 2.7 V, an external quantum efficiency of 18.9% and power efficiency of 30 lm/W at 1000 cd/cm2. This simple white OLED also shows good color quality with a color rendering index of 75, CIE coordinates (0.42, 0.46), and little color shifting at high luminance. The device consists of a SEL sandwiched between a hole transport layer and an electron transport layer. The SEL comprises a thermally activated delayer fluorescent molecule having dual functions as a blue emitter and as a host for other lower energy emitters. The improved color stability and efficiency in such a simple device structure is explained as due to the elimination of significant energy barriers at various organic-organic interfaces in the traditional devices having multiple blocking layers.
Ground-states for the liquid drop and TFDW models with long-range attraction
Authors: Alama Stan , Bronsard Lia , Choksi Rustum , Topaloglu Ihsan
Published: October 2017

We prove that both the liquid drop model in R3 with an attractive background nucleus and the Thomas-Fermi-Dirac-von Weizsäcker (TFDW) model attain their ground-states for all masses as long as the external potential V(x) in these models is of long range, that is, it decays slower than Newtonian (e.g., V(x)≫|x|−1 for large |x|.) For the TFDW model, we adapt classical concentration-compactness arguments by Lions, whereas for the liquid drop model with background attraction, we utilize a recent compactness result for sets of finite perimeter by Frank and Lieb.
Extending pressure-matching to inhomogeneous systems via local-density potentials
Authors: DeLyser Michael R. , Noid William G.
Published: October 2017

Bottom-up coarse-grained models describe the intermolecular structure of all-atom (AA) models with desirable accuracy and efficiency. Unfortunately, structure-based models for liquids tend to dramatically overestimate the thermodynamic pressure and, consequently, tend to vaporize under ambient conditions. By employing a volume potential to introduce additional cohesion, self-consistent pressure-matching provides a simple and robust method for accurately reproducing the pressure equation of state (EoS) for homogeneous fluids, while still preserving an accurate description of intermolecular structure. Because they depend upon the global density, though, volume potentials cannot be directly employed for inhomogeneous systems, such as liquid-vapor interfaces. In the present work, we demonstrate that volume potentials can be readily adapted as potentials of the local density. The resulting local-density potentials provide an accurate description of the structure, pressure EoS, and local density fluctuations of an AA model for liquid methanol. Moreover, we demonstrate that very slight modifications to these local-density potentials allow for a quantitative description of either local or global density fluctuations. Most importantly, we demonstrate that the resulting potentials, which were parameterized to describe a homogeneous liquid, also generate stable liquid-vapor coexistence. However, further work is necessary to more accurately reproduce the interfacial density profile.
Defect pair formation in fluorine and nitrogen codoped TiO2
Authors: Kordatos A. , Kelaidis N. , Chroneos A.
Published: October 2017

Titanium oxide is extensively investigated because of its high chemical stability and its photocatalytic properties; nevertheless, the large band gap limits its activity to a small portion of the solar spectrum. Nitrogen and fluorine codoping is an efficient defect engineering strategy to increase the photocatalytic activity of titanium oxide. In the present study, we apply density functional theory to investigate the interaction of nitrogen with fluorine and the formation of defect pairs. We show that in fluorine and nitrogen codoped titanium oxide, the FiNi, FONi, and FiNTi defects can form. Their impact on the electronic structure of titanium oxide is discussed.
Wake interactions in a fluid flow past a pair of side-by-side square cylinders in presence of mixed convection
Authors: Sanyal Aniruddha , Dhiman Amit
Published: October 2017

In this research article, we investigated the phenomena of a buoyancy-driven cross-flow impinging on a bulk flow from the inlet for a flow past a pair of side-by-side square cylinders in a confined channel wall (which are kept in an adiabatic condition), a special case of an “internal flow” type problem. The density difference in the flow was achieved through a subtle temperature difference between the ambient fluid and the solid walls present in the domain. The study has been carried out at the Reynolds number Re = 1–40 for a transverse gap ratio s/d = 0.7–10 and the Richardson number Ri = 0–1 at a constant value of the Prandtl number Pr = 50. During a rigorous parametric study, we found that the mixed convection not only brings an early unsteadiness in the flow but also fetches an early formation of different flow regimes at Re = 40. An effort has been made to identify the precise near-wake formations leading to the vortex shedding processes in a mixed convection flow for a various range of s/d values. Different flow regimes can be identified efficiently through a unique combination of occurrences for dominant frequencies in terms of the Strouhal number St of primary, secondary, and harmonic frequencies in the flow. The time variant lift plots indicate that the unsteady periodicity in the flow varies from sinusoidal nature at s/d = 0.7 (single body type flow) to square wave (non-sinusoidal periodic waveform) for s/d = 1.5 (chaotic flow) and finally getting back to sinusoidal at s/d = 6 (non-interacting flow). We have also encountered the drastic pattern changes in the flow which occurred due to the onset of recirculation followed by the transition of steady to unsteady periodic nature with Re = 1–40 for all the values of s/d. This case is analyzed in detail through the study of various flow parameters.
All-atom calculation of protein free-energy profiles
Authors: Orioli S. , Ianeselli A. , Spagnolli G. , Faccioli P.
Published: October 2017

The Bias Functional (BF) approach is a variational method which enables one to efficiently generate ensembles of reactive trajectories for complex biomolecular transitions, using ordinary computer clusters. For example, this scheme was applied to simulate in atomistic detail the folding of proteins consisting of several hundreds of amino acids and with experimental folding time of several minutes. A drawback of the BF approach is that it produces trajectories which do not satisfy microscopic reversibility. Consequently, this method cannot be used to directly compute equilibrium observables, such as free energy landscapes or equilibrium constants. In this work, we develop a statistical analysis which permits us to compute the potential of mean-force (PMF) along an arbitrary collective coordinate, by exploiting the information contained in the reactive trajectories calculated with the BF approach. We assess the accuracy and computational efficiency of this scheme by comparing its results with the PMF obtained for a small protein by means of plain molecular dynamics.
Investigation of leaky and bound modes of graphene surface plasmons
Authors: Mohadesi V. , Siahpoush V. , Asgari A.
Published: October 2017

In this paper, the dispersion equation for TM polarized surface plasmon modes in the graphene layer embedded in a layered structure has been derived and numerically solved in THz frequencies (0.5–10 meV). Our model results show that this configuration, depending on the frequency region, can support both bound and leaky surface plasmons. Investigation of the supporting frequency region, electromagnetic field distribution, and propagation length of these two modes has been studied. Comparison of these modes with bound modes propagated in a graphene layer surrounded by two semi-infinite media shows that the propagation characteristics are strongly affected by the coupling effects of a high refractive index medium in its neighbor. The leakage of the power into this medium results in distinct decreasing of the propagation length in special frequencies which depend on the geometrical parameters. Additionally, the radiation efficiency depends on the frequency and it can be modified by the structure parameters. This radiation can be important in designing the plasmonic devices such as plasmonic antennas and may be applicable for light detection of surface plasmon polaritons.
Biological nitrification inhibition by weeds: wild radish, brome grass, wild oats and annual ryegrass decrease nitrification rates in their rhizospheres
Authors: O'Sullivan Cathryn A. , Whisson Kelley , Treble Karen , Roper Margaret M. , Micin Shayne F. , Ward Philip R.
Published: October 2017

This study investigated the ability of several plant species commonly occurring as weeds in Australian cropping systems to produce root exudates that inhibit nitrification via biological nitrification inhibition (BNI). Seedlings of wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum), great brome grass (Bromus diandrus), wild oats (Avena fatua), annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum) and Brachiaria humidicola (BNI-positive control) were grown in hydroponics, and the impact of their root exudates on NO3– production by Nitrosomonas europaea was measured in a pure-culture assay. A pot study (soil-based assay) was then conducted to confirm the ability of the weeds to inhibit nitrification in whole soils. All of the tested weeds slowed NO3– production by N. europaea in the pure-culture assay and significantly inhibited potential nitrification rates in soil-based assays. Root exudates produced by wild radish were the most inhibitory, slowing NO3– production by the pure culture of N. europaea by 53 ± 6.1% and completely inhibiting nitrification in the soil-based assay. The other weed species all had BNI capacities comparable to that of B. humidicola and significantly higher than that previously reported for wheat cv. Janz. This study demonstrates that several commonly occurring weed species have BNI capacity. By altering the N cycle, and retaining NH4+ in the soils in which they grow, these weeds may gain a competitive advantage over species (including crops) that prefer NO3–. Increasing our understanding of how weeds compete with crops for N may open avenues for novel weed-management strategies.
Capturing the cryptic: a comparison of detection methods for stoats (Mustela erminea) in alpine habitats
Authors: Smith Des H. V. , Weston Kerry A.
Published: October 2017

Context
The ability to monitor the spatial distribution and abundance of species is essential for detecting population changes, and assessing the progress of conservation management programs. Stoats (Mustela erminea) are a serious conservation pest in New Zealand, but current monitoring methods are not sensitive enough to detect stoats in all situations.

Aims
We compare the effectiveness of the most commonly employed method for monitoring mustelids in New Zealand, footprint-tracking tunnels, with two alternative detection methods, camera traps and artificial nests. We were interested in determining whether alternative detection methods were more sensitive in detecting stoats than tracking tunnels.

Methods
We established a network of tracking tunnels, artificial nests and camera traps within alpine habitat. Devices were checked for stoat detections weekly across two seasons, in spring–early summer and autumn. Differences in detection rates and cost effectiveness among methods were analysed among seasons.

Key results
In spring–early summer, the time to first stoat detection using footprint-tracking tunnels was 61 days, compared with 7 days for camera traps and 8 days for artificial nests. The rate of stoat detection using artificial nests was significantly higher than it was using tracking tunnels (coef = 3.05 ± 1.29, P = 0.02), and moderately higher using camera traps (coef = 1.34 ± 1.09, P = 0.22). In autumn, when overall detectability of stoats was higher, there was no significant difference in detection rates among the three methods, although camera traps again recorded the earliest detection. Artificial nests were the most cost effective detection method in both seasons.

Conclusions
Artificial nests and camera traps were more efficient at detecting stoats during their spring breeding season (when they are known to be difficult to detect), compared with the more established footprint-tracking tunnel method. Artificial nests have potential to be developed into a monitoring index for small mammals, although further research is required. Both methods provide an important alternative to footprint tracking indices for monitoring stoats.

Implications
Our study demonstrated the importance of calibration among different monitoring methods, particularly when the target species is difficult to detect. We hypothesise that detection methods that do not rely on conspicuous, artificially constructed devices, may be more effective for monitoring small, cryptic mammals.
¿Qué significa ‘te llamo para atrás’?
Authors: Lemus Sarmiento Aura
Published: October 2017

Abstracto

Mucho se ha dicho sobre la estructuraverbo+para atrás, casi emblemática del habla de los hispanos en los Estados Unidos. Si algunos estudios se focalizan en la importación sintáctica o semántica del inglés, mi trabajo analiza de qué manera la estructura se inscribe dentro de los parámetros del español. En efecto, a través de una observación de sus diferentes usos y de los mecanismos de significación que subyacen en la estructura, intentaré elucidar de qué manera el significado respectivo deparay deatráspermiten el uso de “te llamo para atrás” en el español estadounidense. Así mismo, a partir de un análisis variacionista, intentaré establecer el grado de aceptabilidad de la estructura por parte de hablantes de otra variedad diatópica del español.
Entre lo impersonal y lo individual
Authors: Posio Pekka
Published: October 2017

Abstracto

La presente investigación compara las estrategias de impersonalización individualizadoras en el español peninsular y en el portugués europeo. Dichas estructuras incluyen pronombres y formas verbales como la segunda persona del singular y el pronombre indefinido-impersonaluno.La comparación entre español y portugués resulta interesante, ya que esta última lengua no dispone de un pronombre análogo aunoy el uso de la segunda persona del singular se demuestra limitado. En cambio, en el portugués europeo se emplea el sintagma nominala/uma pessoapara expresar referencia impersonal. Un análisis cuantitativo de entrevistas sociolingüísticas demuestra que la expresión de la impersonalidad individual es más frecuente en español que en portugués. Aunque las estrategias de impersonalización nominales del portugués presentan indicios de gramaticalización, su uso no es tan generalizado como el deltúimpersonal en español. Las diferencias observadas pueden relacionarse con factores culturales como la expresión de cortesía positiva y negativa.
Y yo soy cubano, and I’m impatient
Authors: Loureiro-Rodríguez Verónica
Published: October 2017

This article examines Cuban-American rapper Pitbull’s use of Spanish in his seven English albums, drawing from the literature on lyrical code-switching andSarkar and Winer’s (2006)socio-pragmatic framework for the analysis of multilingual code-switching in Quebec rap. It was found that Pitbull’s highest rates of Spanish language use appear in songs with hegemonic masculinity as main topic, and that Spanish switches are used mostly for emphasis/translation, and for enacting a hypersexual, hypermasculine identity consistent with rap and reggaeton expectations of masculinity. Pitbull’s use of Spanish legitimizes Latinos’ code-switching practices and allows him to articulate a bilingual/bicultural Latino rapper identity, but also perpetuates stereotypes that link Spanish and Spanish-speaking men to sex and sexuality.
Constructing an ontology and database of Japanese lexical properties
Authors: Joyce Terry , Hodošček Bor , Masuda Hisashi
Published: October 2017

As a significant milestone within ongoing efforts to construct a comprehensive database in the form of a lexical resource (LR) of Japanese Lexical Properties (JLP-LR), this paper outlines the initial construction of an Ontology of Japanese Lexical Properties (JLP-O) (Joyce & Hodošček 2014), and, in particular, describes some of its key aspects specifically incorporated in order to satisfactorily handle the orthographic complexity of the Japanese writing system (Joyce 2013, 2016; Joyce, Hodošček & Nishina 2012). While motivated primarily by issues of orthographic representation for the Japanese lexicon, these key features potentially have wider implications for the effective construction of integrated orthographic databases and lexicons.
The BasisSpellingBank
Authors: Zuidema Johan , Neijt Anneke
Published: October 2017

The BasisSpellingBank is the first lexicon where the spellings and pronunciations of words are documented explicitly and separately for all relevant word parts. Unlike earlier descriptions of Dutch orthography in terms of rules and underlying forms, the BasisSpellingBank departs from the concept of storage and the way spelling is taught in schools. At its core are triplets of phoneme(s), grapheme(s), and the spelling category(s) which describe the correspondences between them. The triplet notation provides a detailed, exhaustive description of Dutch orthography. It is a formal system that could be used to describe other alphabetic writing systems as well. By integrating information about orthographic rules and lexical storage, the triplet notation more adequately describes the knowledge possessed by fluent users. The triplets unlock exact measures of both forward and backward consistency, which opens up detailed analyses of spelling performance. The database provides new insights into spelling education and spelling complexity.
STRESYL
Authors: Sulpizio Simone , Spinelli Giacomo , Burani Cristina
Published: October 2017

During the last few decades, empirical research on reading has shown increasing interest in syllable units. More recently, stress assignment has become a particular focus of interest. The relation between syllables and stress, however, has yet to be investigated for Italian. In this paper, we describe a new database, STRESYL, that can help researchers to investigate the relation between syllables and stress in Italian. STRESYL offers type and token measures relating stress information to syllable units, both in terms of syllable forms and syllabic structures.
MicroRNA expression and implications for infectious diseases in livestock.
Authors: Taxis T. M. , Casas E.
Published: October 2017

Animal diseases are a significant source of lost revenue in livestock production systems. Reduction and control of diseases has traditionally been done under three management programs: eradication by test and slaughter, vaccination, and use of antibiotics. However, inadequate efficacy of vaccines and restrictions on the use of antibiotics in several countries have prompted the need to develop improved and novel methodologies to identify disease exposure and potentially implement intervention strategies to control various diseases. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA molecules that have been proposed as biomarkers for disease in livestock. MiRNAs function by blocking protein translation, or through direct degradation of messenger RNA. As a result, miRNAs have been widely studied in humans, and their role in animal disease is now being assessed. This review encompasses a summary of miRNAs involved in animal diseases where miRNAs have been explored. This includes miRNAs associated with diseases in cattle, pigs, sheep and poultry. Reliability is necessary to propose a miRNA as a biomarker associated with a specific disease in any given livestock species. Results from the reviewed publications have identified miRNAs associated with the innate immune system; however, further research is necessary to establish miRNAs that are consistently dysregulated for each disease. The regulation of miRNAs appears to be dependent on the livestock species and pathogen evaluated. As research in this area continues, specific miRNA profiles will need to be supported by other assessments to establish their potential use in veterinary medicine in terms of prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of a disease. The possibility and challenges of using these molecules as biomarkers in animal health is discussed in this review.
Rethinking class and culture in Africa: between E. P. Thompson and Pierre Bourdieu
Authors: Werbner Pnina
Published: October 2017

The article considers the historiography of labour and class studies in sub-Saharan Africa in relation to the contemporary ‘cultural turn’ in sociological studies of class. It identifies three phases: from the 1960s, a highly empiricist Marxist approach which drew on Fanon’s notion of an aristocracy of labour; from the 1980s, a shift to a stress on culture, agency and identity, following E. P. Thompson; the final move has focused on the African middle classes, drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of consumption. Research on a public sector manual workers’ union in Botswana exemplifies, the author argues, the Thompsonian approach.
The Reception of American Literature in Japan during the Occupation
Authors: Ochi Hiromi
Published: October 2017

The reception of American literature in Japan was radically altered after the Second World War. Before the war, only a handful of works on American literature were published, and the status of American literature was secondary to that of British literature. Unlike in Germany, whose occupation at the end of the war was divided among the Allies, the military occupation of Japan was conducted unilaterally by the United States. Under the U.S. occupation, American literature was introduced as part of a cultural policy aimed at the reorientation and re-education of Japanese society under the umbrella concept of demilitarization and democratization of postwar Japan. Such cultural politics was the product of a 1930s U.S. State Department program carried out at first in South American countries and then through the Office of War Information in war-torn European countries.

American literature was introduced through the program of the Culture, Information and Education (CIE) section of General Headquarters, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (GHQ/SCAP). In accordance with the transformation of the U.S. literary canon as the cultural Cold War regime developed, the book selections of the CIE changed from reflecting the multicultural, New Deal ideal (including books under the Federal Writers Project) to incorporating the modernist canon. American books were distributed to CIE libraries established in major cities in Japan, and in 1948, the CIE launched a new program to promote translations into Japanese. Beside the official distribution, there was also a trade in American books—including Armed Services Editions, which were not meant for sale—on the Japanese used book market. What was really pivotal for instituting American literary studies and its modernist canon were the summer seminars sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation and held at the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University. The Rockefeller report submitted to Secretary of State John Foster Dulles in 1951 was also instrumental in providing a blueprint for the continued cultural program after the peace treaty of 1951 and the end of military occupation the following year.

The introduction of American literature and its newly reformed canon tuned for modernism occurred within the continuum of the political, the military, and the economic. As such, the cultural program was enmeshed with refashioning Japanese subjectivity, and in this sense, American literature and American studies were part of a general cultural politics that was intertwined with the ways of government.
Workplace Dishonesty and Deception as Socially Situated Organizational Behavior
Authors: Leavitt Keith , Sluss David M.
Published: October 2017

Truthfulness and accuracy are critical for effective organizational functioning, but dishonesty (in the form of lying, misrepresentation, and fraud) continue to be pervasive in organizational life. Workplace dishonesty is an inherently unique behavior that should be distinguished from broader categories of unethical workplace behavior and organizational deviance, in that dishonesty is an overt social behavior—that is, requiring an audience to exist as a behavior. Compared to stealing or cheating, dishonest acts require knowing fabrication of false information, intended to deceive an anticipated audience. Thus, considering the overt social aspect of dishonesty (compared to the relatively clandestine behaviors of cheating and stealing) may add conceptual clarity to the construct of workplace dishonesty, which is surprisingly absent from extant literature. The potential audience for dishonest acts in the workplace is notably critical, in that dishonest organizational actors generally anticipate characteristics of the audience (in terms of relationship closeness, as well as expertise and motivation to evaluate the claim) and likely adapt and tailor their dishonesty accordingly. Historically two underlying paradigms have been used to study workplace dishonesty: the rational actor (economic) paradigm and the behavioral ethics (psychological) paradigm, but an emerging and nascent third paradigm (the social actor paradigm) may offer new opportunities for understanding antecedents of workplace dishonesty that do not occur exclusively for self-interested reasons. This novel paradigm suggests here important areas of inquiry related to the aftermath of workplace dishonesty: when will workplace dishonesty be detected in social interactions; what are the social and relational consequences of discovering dishonesty; how are dishonest actors likely to behave in the aftermath of their dishonest actions. Finally, two varying discrepancies relevant to workplace dishonesty should accordingly be considered when predicting subsequent behavior of the dishonest actor: the magnitude of the discrepancy between the truth and the fabrication, and the temporal discrepancy between the trigger event and dishonest act.
Institutional Logics
Authors: Haveman Heather A. , Gualtieri Gillian
Published: October 2017

Research on institutional logics surveys systems of cultural elements (values, beliefs, and normative expectations) by which people, groups, and organizations make sense of and evaluate their everyday activities, and organize those activities in time and space. Although there were scattered mentions of this concept before 1990, this literature really began with the 1991 publication of a theory piece by Roger Friedland and Robert Alford. Since that time, it has become a large and diverse area of organizational research. Several books and thousands of papers and book chapters have been published on this topic, addressing institutional logics in sites as different as climate change proceedings of the United Nations, local banks in the United States, and business groups in Taiwan. Several intellectual precursors to institutional logics provide a detailed explanation of the concept and the theory surrounding it. These literatures developed over time within the broader framework of theory and empirical work in sociology, political science, and anthropology. Papers published in ten major sociology and management journals in the United States and Europe (between 1990 and 2015) provide analysis and help to identify trends in theoretical development and empirical findings. Evaluting these trends suggest three gentle corrections and potentially useful extensions to the literature help to guide future research: (1) limiting the definition of institutional logic to cultural-cognitive phenomena, rather than including material phenomena; (2) recognizing both “cold” (purely rational) cognition and “hot” (emotion-laden) cognition; and (3) developing and testing a theory (or multiple related theories), meaning a logically interconnected set of propositions concerning a delimited set of social phenomena, derived from assumptions about essential facts (axioms), that details causal mechanisms and yields empirically testable (falsifiable) hypotheses, by being more consistent about how we use concepts in theoretical statements; assessing the reliability and validity of our empirical measures; and conducting meta-analyses of the many inductive studies that have been published, to develop deductive theories.
Discursive Psychological Approaches to Intergroup Communication
Authors: Augoustinos Martha , Goodman Simon
Published: October 2017

The recent emergence of discursive psychological approaches has challenged the dominance of cognitive and structural models of language that theorize it as an abstract and coherent system of meanings. Epistemologically informed by social constructionism, discursive psychological approaches examine how language is actually used in everyday formal and informal talk or discourse. Discourse (both written text and talk) is treated as a social practice that is both central to understanding and constructing social reality and oriented to the practical concerns of everyday life. Discursive psychological approaches to intergroup communication have produced a large body of research examining everyday informal talk and institutional discourse on intergroup relations in liberal democratic societies. This work has focused primarily on the text and talk of majority group members and powerful elites about matters pertaining to race, immigration, ethnicity, and gender. How speakers attend to and account for group differences in discourse is perceived to be intimately related to the reproduction and legitimation of social inequalities in liberal democratic societies. This body of research has identified common and pervasive patterns of talk by majority group members that are seen as contributing to the continued marginalization and social exclusion of minorities. These discursive patterns include: positive self and negative other presentation, denials of prejudice, discursive deracialization, and using liberal arguments to justify and legitimate inequality.
Behavioral Indicators of Discrimination in Social Interactions
Authors: Corrington Abigail R. , Hebl Mikki , Tsang Jo-Ann
Published: October 2017

A growing number of studies are utilizing different sorts of behavioral indicators as measures of prejudice and discrimination. Although there are few foolproof behavioral indicators of discrimination (cf. verbal articulations of overt discrimination), patterns of behaviors can often be reliable indicators of discrimination. There are three sets of behavioral indicators. First, there are verbal behaviors such as overt insults or the use of pejorative words to describe stigmatized individuals. Such verbal statements, particularly when overt, make attributions of perceiver prejudice very straightforward. Such exchanges appear to be on the rise and are particularly worthy of study following the apparent 2016 “whitelash” and resistance to acting in ways deemed to be “politically correct.” Other forms of verbal behaviors involve more indirect expressions of prejudice, such as ambiguous comments and subjective references. Second, there are paraverbal behaviors that may index discrimination. For instance, individuals’ tone and pacing of speech may intentionally or unintentionally signal their disapproval or dislike of a stigmatized target. These behaviors are less commonly studied by social scientists but provide indicators about an individual’s intentions toward a stigmatized target. Third and finally, there are both nonverbal microbehaviors (e.g., gestures, eye contact) and macrobehaviors (e.g., avoidance, helping behavior). Behavioral measures—both classic and more state-of-the-art—that might serve as indicators of discrimination have been identified in recent research, and researchers should continue to learn more about them and use them.
Conflict and Perceived Threat in Eastern Africa
Authors: Nshom Elvis
Published: October 2017

Conflict and prejudice are universal phenomena and represent a major concern in most societies, especially on the African continent. Worldwide, just a few cases, such as the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Northern Ireland, Sudan, Eritrea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, and Nigeria, have revealed how destructive prejudice and conflict can be to societies. Eastern Africa is a region that has been tremendously affected by conflict. Unfortunately, nations like Sudan and Somalia have been torn apart by many years of conflict. This has inevitably led to other societal challenges or difficulties, such as displacements, poverty, and famine. The question of why people get into conflict has been examined and debated internationally, especially in the field of social psychology. However, conflict in Eastern African cannot be explained merely by psychology. In order to have a holistic understanding of conflict, especially in Africa, it is important not only to look at social psychological factors, such as prejudice, but also to consider important political, economic, and social factors that may be related to the particular conflict, because the African context is extremely complex and the causes of conflict can sometimes be intertwined.
Crisis Communication
Authors: Diers-Lawson Audra
Published: October 2017

For organizations, crises are pervasive, difficult to keep quiet in today’s global multimedia environment; they are challenging, potentially catastrophic; they can even be opportunities for organizations to thrive and emerge stronger. Crises come in many shapes and sizes including media blunders, social media activism, extortion, product tampering, security issues, natural disasters, accidents, or negligence, just to name a few. The first research on crisis communication appeared in 1953, and since then the field has grown steadily. However, in the last five to six years there has been an explosion of theoretical development, international engagement, methodological diversity, and topic diversity within the field to reflect the growing multinational and multiplatform environment in which organizations and people interact.

Therefore, in order to understand the field of crisis communication, as a public relations and management function, it is important to focus on the critical factors that affect our understanding of the concept and proliferation of research and practice in the area. There are five critical factors that drive our understanding and research in crisis communication: (1) issues and reputation management as crisis mitigation and prevention, (2) crisis types in a modern global environment, (3) organizational factors affecting crisis response, (4) stakeholder factors affecting crisis response, and (5) response factors to consider in crisis response. In addition, it will review the critical trends in crisis communication research, challenges within the field, and resources for further development.
Understanding Hate Speech
Authors: Waltman Michael S. , Mattheis Ashely A.
Published: October 2017

Most of the research dealing with hate and hate speech has examined the practices and discourses of hate groups and hate crimes. This work has tended to focus on hate and hate speech directed at African Americans, Jews, and other nonwhites by white supremacist groups. An emerging and growing literature examines hate and hate speech that is used by men to target and harass women. Research in this area has focused on the ways that hate speech produced by organized hate groups and men’s rights activist groups is used to recruit new members, to socialize new members, to radicalize people, and to encourage ethnoviolence. The Internet has had a revolutionizing influence on these groups’ use of hate speech. Additionally, hate novels and “hate music” have played important roles in the recruitment of people into the hate movement and promoted violence against those perceived as enemies of Aryans.
The Role of Emotional Mimicry in Intergroup Relations
Authors: Hess Ursula , Fischer Agneta
Published: October 2017

What is the role of emotional mimicry in intergroup relations? There are different theoretical accounts of the function and underlying processes of emotional mimicry. A review of research on emotional mimicry suggests that, in general, emotional mimicry reinforces existing group boundaries, rather than breaking or dissolving them. Specifically, there is consistent evidence that people tend to mimic similar others more than dissimilar others. Given that ingroup members are by definition more similar to each other than to outgroup members, this implies that the former are more likely to be mimicked than the latter. In turn, mimicry improves social bonds with others, which then facilitates ingroup relations.

The most primitive and implicit pathway for mimicry is via embodiment, and it can only take place when there is an actual interaction between group members. To the degree that such processes are presumed to be automatic, it is likely that they tend to reinforce social exclusion of outgroup members. By contrast, the most explicit pathway to mimicry is via perspective taking, in which one deliberately tries to take the other’s perspective. This process does not require the actual presence of members of other groups, but some form of empathy when judging or expecting to meet other group members. This process is more amenable to top-down influences. The research on mimicry also converges on the notion that when mimicry (or in fact other forms of behavior matching) is present, interactions can be expected to be more affiliative. Thus, with effort, mimicry can also be a tool for improving intergroup relations. As always, however, it requires more effort to cross group boundaries than to stay within them.
Intractability from a Sociopsychological Approach
Authors: Bar-Tal Daniel
Published: October 2017

Intractable conflicts are defined as being protracted, violent, perceived as being of zero-sum nature and unsolvable, total, and central, and parties involved have an interest in their continuation; they are demanding, stressful, painful, exhausting, and costly both in human and material terms. As an adaptation to these conditions societies develop appropriate sociopsychological infrastructure, which includes collective memory, ethos of conflict, and collective emotional orientations. This infrastructure fulfills important functions, on both the individual and collective levels, including the important role of formation, maintenance and strengthening of a social identity that reflects this conflict. It is institutionalized, disseminated, and eventually becomes the foundation for the development of culture of conflict. Its major themes appear in public discourse, cultural products, school books, and societal ceremonies. The emerged culture of conflict ends up serving as a major fueling factor to the continuation of the conflict and as a major obstacle to its peaceful resolution. The infrastructure serves as major sociopsychological barriers. These barriers stand as major obstacles to begin the negotiation, to continue the negotiation, to achieve an agreement and later to engage in a process of reconciliation.
Legal Issues in Intergroup Relations
Authors: Choi Charles W.
Published: October 2017

An intergroup perspective in the legal context highlights the influence of group membership on the interaction between authorities and citizens. Social identity influences communication both in the field (e.g., police–civilian) and in the courtroom (e.g., juror deliberation). The research in the law enforcement context addresses trust in police officers, the communication accommodation between police and civilians, sociodemographic stereotypes impacting police–civilian encounters, the role of police media portrayals, and its influence on intergroup exchanges between police and civilians. Juries are inextricably influenced by group membership cues (e.g., race and gender), and differentiate those in the ingroup over the outgroup. The impact of stereotypes and intergroup bias is evident in the literature on jury decisions and the severity of punitive sentencing. These and other factors make the intergroup nature of the legal context significant, and they determine the interconnection between the parties involved. Specifically, the social identity approach brings focus to the biases, attributions, and overall evaluations of the perceived outgroup. The research indicates that diversity is necessary to alleviate the intergroup mindset, thereby encouraging a more interindividual viewpoint of those outgroup members.
Genocide and Intergroup Communication
Authors: Donohue William A.
Published: October 2017

Understanding intergroup communication in the context of genocide and mass killing begins with an exploration of how this kind of communication can devolve into such heinous human tragedies. How does communication set the stage that enables groups to pursue this path? The literature suggests that genocide is preceded by a period of intense communication that seeks to exacerbate racial divides while also providing social sanctions for killing as a solution to this intergroup strengthening activity. As individuals use language in their intergroup exchanges that seeks to build their own identity through the derogation of an outgroup, they become trapped in a conflict paradox that can then lead to violence or genocide. Strategies for detecting language associated with forming an identity trap and then dealing with it are also discussed.
Gangs and Intergroup Communication
Authors: Woo DaJung
Published: October 2017

Gang violence and its impact on society is a well-documented phenomenon. Until recently, gang research has been mostly conducted by criminologists and sociologists. Some scholars consider gangs to be special or different from other delinquent or peer groups, warranting special attention and approach to the research. Although this approach has led to substantial advancements in knowledge about gangs, scholars’ attention to emergent ideas from fields of study beyond gang research can contribute to a multifaceted understanding of gangs and group processes of gangs. Specifically, intergroup communication theories and research are well suited to analyze and predict communicative implications of gang membership on gang activities and potential gang members. Intergroup communication theories posit that it is not individuals’ characteristics that shape their communication with others but their salient social memberships, such as being a part of a gang or a certain socioeconomic group; in turn, the communication provides information about why/how they identify with different groups in society. While gangs have been rarely discussed in communication contexts—with an exception of the work by Conquergood who engaged in this topic over two decades ago—some key intergroup communication issues are alluded to in a number of existing definitions of gangs. For example, Pyrooz defines a gang as “a group that hangs out together, wears gang colors or clothes, has set clear boundaries of its territory or turf, and protects its members and turf against other rival gangs through fighting or threats” (2014, p. 355). In another example, Klein and Maxson define street gangs as “any durable, street-oriented groups whose involvement in illegal activity is part of its group identity” (2006, p. 4). These definitions indicate that gang membership is communicated by distinct markers—such as gang colors, clothing, or illegal activities—which help organize the gang’s system and making their identity distinctive from outgroups (other gangs and their surroundings). Also, gangs have clear boundaries for determining in/outgroup, and the shared group identity among ingroup members—rather than their individual identity—drives their communicative behaviors. Importantly, gangs are motivated to engage in risky behaviors to enhance their reputation and communicate dominance by fighting against other gangs or law enforcement (intergang conflicts). Examining these gang activities and processes as intergroup communication phenomena, as opposed to analyzing them in terms of individual and intragroup aspects, can complement gang research grounded in other disciplines and enhance understanding of why/how youths might decide to join gangs, obtain, and maintain gang membership.
Migrants and Migrant Workers
Authors: Zeng Cheng
Published: October 2017

Massive migration both within and between countries has been witnessed over the last two centuries. Migration is a multifaceted event with significant socioeconomic, cultural, political consequences for both receiving and sending countries/regions. Migrants typically move to a more developed region with the hope of obtaining better employment and living standards. Migrants, a cheap labor source with high achievement motivation, seem to be the ideal workforce for aging societies that have an urgent need for working populations. Despite migrants being needed for local economic growth, migrant workers are often marginalized in host societies. In addition, lacking human, social, and cultural capital, migrants are more disadvantaged in the job markets, especially during economic downturns. Life establishment in host societies is by no means an easy task for migrants who are also confronted with issues such as cultural differences and extra socioeconomic pressures. Institutionalized and daily discrimination from host societies also have significant negative impacts on migrants’ professional and everyday lives. Thus, migrants often report lower levels of happiness, job satisfaction, and health than their local counterparts. It is urgent to facilitate migrants’ integration and diminish social division between migrants and locals to improve migrant workers’ life quality in the host societies.