Anticipating the Societal Challenges of Nanotechnologies

“In this article we sketch out the landscape for this Special Issue on anticipating and embedding the societal challenge of nanotechnologies. Tools that actors may choose to employ for these processes are articulated, and further explored through the introduction of the seven articles which comprise this Issue. Taken together, these articles create a cogent narrative on the societal challenges posed by nanotechnologies. They are drawn together by three distinct themes, each of which is briefly considered within this context of this Introductory article”.     

Cognitive flexibility in hypnosis: response to change communication from the hypnotist.

It was predicted that modification of response as it indexes cognitive flexibility in the hypnotic subject is related to susceptibility to hypnosis and the difficulty of the hypnotic task attempted. Experiment 1 isolated two distinct hypnotic tasks (easy and difficult); alternative forms of each item conveyed either clear or unclear structure concerning the response that was perceived as most appropriate. In Experiment 2, 101 subjects were administered hypnotic induction procedures and tested for modification of response on both items; for each subject, the hypnotist posed a conflict in communication by plausibly requesting an alteration in response from the behavior that the subject had chosen to indicate previously. Change data demonstrated that hypnotic subjects modified their behavior in hypnosis, but their cognitive flexibility was much more relevant to easy than to difficult tasks. Results highlight a further dimension of role enactment as well as the special role cognitive skills in play in our understanding of performance on hypnotic test items.     

In Defence of Pure Pluralism: Two Readings of Walzer's Spheres of Justice

In this article I will argue that there are two theories of distributive justice hidden in Walzer's Spheres of Justice . The first one emphasises the separation of distributive spheres. It tries to formulate distributive criteria by sticking faithfully to sphere-specificity. I shall refer to this theory as 'pure pluralism'. The second theory downplays the separation of spheres and emphasises 'across spheres' or 'between spheres' criteria instead. I shall call this theory 'mitigated pluralism'. Mitigated pluralism has become popular among Walzer's friendly critics who apparently do not want to charge him with a distributive theory as clear and rigid as pure pluralism. Although I consider myself another friendly critic, I shall argue in favour of pure pluralism.     

Envisioning college success: the role of student identity centrality

This paper examines the recently developed construct of student identity centrality, which describes the importance of being a student to a person’s sense of self. The present study uses multiple college student surveys and institutional data to expand upon initial work in several ways. First, it shows that this construct is measured reliably using a single three-item scale. Second, it employs measurement invariance analyses, which indicate that this scale is valid for examining and comparing different groups of students. Third, it provides evidence for convergent and divergent validity through exploring relationships between student identity centrality and relevant psychological and experiential constructs. Fourth, even when controlling for demographics, prior academic achievement, stereotype threat, and grit, it finds that student identity is positively and significantly associated with college credits earned; grades in science, technology, engineering and mathematics coursework; academic confidence; college sense of belonging; and subjective well-being. Implications for future research, assessment, and higher education practice are discussed.

     

Medroxyprogesterone acetate impairs memory and alters the GABAergic system in aged surgically menopausal rats

In women, medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) is the most commonly used progestin component of hormone therapy (HT). In vitro, MPA negatively impacts markers of neuronal health and exacerbates experimentally-induced neurotoxicity. There is in vitro evidence that these factors are driven by GABAergic and neurotrophic systems. Whether these effects translate to a negative impact on brain function has not been tested in vivo, clinically or preclinically. Here we evaluate the mnemonic and neurobiological effects of MPA in the surgically menopausal rat. Aged ovariectomized (OVX) rats were given subcutaneous vehicle, natural progesterone, low-dose MPA or high-dose MPA. Multiple cognitive domains were analyzed via the water radial-arm maze (WRAM) and Morris maze (MM). Cognitive brain regions were assayed for changes in the GABAergic system by evaluating GAD protein, the synthesizing enzyme for GABA, and neurotrophins. On the WRAM, both progestin types impaired learning. Further, high-dose MPA impaired delayed memory retention on the WRAM, and exacerbated overnight forgetting on the MM. While neurotrophins were not affected by progesterone or MPA treatment, both progestin types altered GAD levels. MPA significantly and progesterone marginally decreased GAD levels in the hippocampus, and both MPA and progesterone significantly increased GAD levels in the entorhinal cortex. These findings suggest that MPA, the most commonly used progestin in HT, is detrimental to learning and two types of memory, and modulates the GABAergic system in cognitive brain regions, in aged surgically menopausal rats. These findings, combined with in vitro evidence that MPA is detrimental to neuronal health, indicates that MPA has negative effects for brain health and function.