Chilling Effect Research Articles

Beyond homocolonialism: working towards queer decoloniality in Bangladesh

AbstractThe queer movement in Bangladesh suffered a crisis in 2016 with the murder of two activists, leading to an unwanted hyper-visibility in wider society, and a chilling effect on activism. We detail what it means to think beyond postcolonial critiques of international LGBTQ rights, briefly explaining the realities and limits of queer politics in Bangladesh, focusing on sexual health infrastructures and the emergence of legal citizenship for the “third-gender” hijra population. We argue that these dimensions of queer existence remain circumscribed, and that a public discourse of sexualities remains difficult to create as a terrain for equality. We explore whether the framing of ‘decolonial’ is useful here, conceptualized as a process of working through the postcolonial critique of western structures of financial and sexual frameworks, towards an understanding of crisis that requires reading colonialism in its later evolution in the context of nationalism, neoliberal development, and religious fundamentalism.

Cryophysiology of coral microfragments: effects of chilling and cryoprotectant toxicity.

Coral reefs are being degraded at alarming rates and decisive intervention actions are urgently needed. One such intervention is coral cryopreservation. Although the cryopreservation of coral sperm and larvae has been achieved, preservation of coral fragments including both its tissue and skeleton, has not. The overarching aim of this study was to understand and assess the physiological stressors that might underlie coral fragment cryopreservation, understand the long-term consequences of these exposures to continued growth, and develop a health metrics scale for future research. Therefore, we assessed small fragments (~1 cm2) from the Hawaiian coral, Porites compressa, examining: (1) chill sensitivity; (2) chemical sensitivity to complex cryoprotectants; (3) methods to safely remove algal symbionts of coral for cryopreservation; (4) continued growth over time of coral fragments exposed to chilling and cryoprotectants; and (5) assessment of health and viability of coral fragments post the applied treatments. Corals were able to withstand chilling to 0 °C for 1 min and after 2 weeks were not significantly different from the live controls, whereas, corals exposed to complex cryoprotectants needed 3 weeks of recovery. Most importantly, it appears that once the coral fragments had surpassed this initial recovery, there was no difference in subsequent growth. Technological advances in cryo-technology promise to support successful coral fragment cryopreservation soon, and its success could help secure much of the genetic and biodiversity of reefs in the next decade.

The impact of Secure Communities on the labor market outcomes of immigrant women

AbstractThe United States deported nearly 400,000 unauthorized immigrants under the Secure Communities (SC) interior immigration enforcement program between 2008 and 2014. This paper uses variation in the intensity of deportations across immigrants’ country of origin and city of residence to assess the labor market consequences of SC on foreign‐born women. We find no effect on the total number of employed immigrant women, but both annual wages and the number of hours worked fell. Moreover, SC induced a shift toward occupations with lower average pay and education requirements, higher exposure to hazards, and less contact with others. This is consistent with a chilling effect in labor markets such that some foreign‐born women were willing to sacrifice better pay and working environments for the ability to avoid detection.

Aesthetic chills modulate reward learning in anhedonic depression

ObjectiveThis study aimed to examine the potential of experiencing aesthetic chills to enhance reward learning in individuals with elevated depressive symptoms, specifically anhedonia, by investigating the effect of chills on participants' ability to modulate behavior as a function of rewards. MethodsA total of 103 participants with elevated depressive symptoms took part in the experiment. Among them, 59 participants had depressive symptoms (BDI ≥ 20), with 26 classified as “High Anhedonic” (HA) and 33 as “Low Anhedonic” (LA). Additionally, 39 participants without elevated depressive symptoms (BDI < 20 and SHAPs <32) were included as the control group. We utilized ChillsDB, an open-source database of validated audiovisual stimuli known to elicit chills in the US population. ResultsAnhedonic participants who experienced chills demonstrated a significant increase in response bias (p = .004) towards rewards compared to those who did not experience chills. Highlighting specificity, no significant difference in reward bias was observed among LA participants. ConclusionsThese findings suggest that the experience of chills has the potential to impact reward learning in anhedonic individuals, aligning with the known neurobiology of this phenomenon. These results highlight the potential of aesthetic chills as a novel approach to elicit and enhance positive affect in depressed populations.

The Virtual Physician: Clarifying Medical Liability Issues in the Use of Remote Patient Monitoring

More than ever before, information and communication technologies are playing an important role in the provision of health care services. As a form of telehealth, remote patient monitoring (RPM) uses information technologies and telecommunication tools to collect health data from patients outside of traditional health care institutional settings and transmit the data to health care providers for monitoring and evaluation. There are many challenges to RPM’s greater implementation in health care, including the potential for risk of harm for patients, and uncertainty regarding the liability of physicians utilizing RPM. Uncertain medical liability may have a chilling effect on the greater clinical use of RPM. To date, medical liability issues regarding RPM have not been addressed by courts and there is a paucity of literature on the topic. This article attempts to clarify some of the liability issues raised by RPM. To help guide physicians in their use of RPM, I propose the adoption of professional guidelines specific to RPM that courts can use in determining whether physicians have breached relevant standards of practice. Furthermore, by providing evidence-based standards, guidelines can mitigate risks of patient injury and reduce physicians’ reticence to adopt RPM.

The shrinking space for civil society activism in Palestine

Counter-terrorism is increasingly being used to shrink the space for civil society. In October 2021, six Palestinian civil society organisations (CSOs) were proscribed by the Israeli Minister of Defense as ‘terrorist organisations’ based on the 2016 Counter-Terrorism Law. If fully implemented, in conjunction with the 1945 Defense (Emergency) Regulations, the CSOs’ offices would be closed and their staff arrested. However, the designation’s primary audience has reportedly been the donors of these organisations. This article explores whether the designation added another layer to the long-ongoing process of criminalising the CSOs, curtailing their capabilities to operate, and delegitimising them as partners for the donors and global civil society. The analysis draws on a combination of the shrinking space concept and securitisation theory. It broadens the latter to include the power of the referent subject, an aspect often neglected in the literature. Even though both audiences did not approve of the Israeli government’s securitising move and the CSOs were able to develop coping mechanisms, it deepened chilling effects. Continued attacks against the organisations contributed to further limiting their activism space. The case study builds upon a content analysis of legal documents, public statements, and data gathered through semi-structured interviews.

The Day the Department of Education Invaded My Classroom

Recent legislation in Tennessee regarding “divisive concepts” or policing books and topics in classrooms has created a tense environment for educators throughout the state. Through autoethnographic reflections on these policies and their direct impact on the author as a secondary teacher, he explores the greater impact of such policies and the potential “chilling effect” they can have in silencing educators nationwide. He then discusses the implications of either choosing to speak out about these experiences in hopes of inspiring social activism to curb invasive educational legislation or choosing to remain silent, instead growing numb to policies educators often feel helpless to substantially impact. Ultimately, he argues for the former course of action despite the potential risks.

Early Chilling Injury Symptom Development and Recovery of Mature Green Banana: Involvement of Ethylene under Different Severities of Chilling Stress

The involvement of stress ethylene in early chilling injury (CI) symptom development of mature-green (MG) banana fruit was examined using the ethylene action inhibitor, 1-methyclopropene (1-MCP). MG banana fruit pretreated with 0 or 50 μg L−1 1-MCP were stored at two chilling temperatures, 5 °C or 10 °C, for 0, 1, 12, or 72 h (different CI stresses), then transferred to 20 °C (rewarming) for 2 d. Irreversible CI symptoms that developed during 72 h storage at 5 or 10 °C included vascular browning and epidermal color parameters (L*, chroma, and hue angle). Some CI symptoms drastically intensified during exposure to 5 or 10 °C for 72 h, even being exacerbated after rewarming. Fruit in the other treatments suffered milder CI, and the recovery response progressed from slight and reversible to severe and irreversible with longer durations of exposure to lower temperatures. The effect of 1-MCP pretreatment was to attenuate the effect of chilling in terms of the CI symptom development (i.e., the browning of sub-epidermal tissues and the increasing of electrolyte efflux) and to promote recovery after rewarming, especially for the fruit stored at 5 °C, indicating the potential involvement of ethylene in membrane structural alterations under CI stress.

Unraveling the Impact of Perceived Issue Importance and YouTube’s Opinion Climate on the Chilling Effect: The Mediating Role of Communication Apprehension and Perceived Isolation

Unraveling the Impact of Perceived Issue Importance and YouTube’s Opinion Climate on the Chilling Effect: The Mediating Role of Communication Apprehension and Perceived Isolation

Administrative Lawfare at the European Union’s External Borders: Some Perspectives on Administrative Regulation of NGO Search and Rescue Activities in Italy and the Situation at the Polish-Belarusian Border

Abstract Violations of the rights of migrants by state actors at the EU’s external borders, including through the use of pushbacks and indiscriminate violence, both on land and sea, have resulted in NGOs, lawyers and citizen activists engaging in forms of humanitarian action and legal mobilization aimed at contesting inhumane state policies. State actors can similarly rely on various legal tools to create a chilling effect and a hostile environment for migrants’ rights activism. Such practices can be considered to constitute a form of lawfare against migrants’ rights activism, an instrumental and hegemonic use of the law in order to weaken support for migrants. The use of criminal law has been a common tool of lawfare at the European Union’s external borders. However, administrative law is increasingly being used to bring activists into compliance with states’ interests, creating compliant environments through the use of regulatory instruments and administrative sanctions. To critically assess the instrumental use of administrative law as a form of lawfare, it makes sense to review their application at the EU’s external borders. A good opportunity for such a review is being provided by looking at the administrative regulation of search and rescue (SAR) operations in the Mediterranean creating a hostile environment for SAR NGOs in the case of Italy, and the instrumental use of administrative regulations to limit access for activists to the Polish-Belarusian border in the case of Poland.

ICE Detainer Requests Were Associated With Lower Medicaid And SNAP Enrollment Among Eligible Adults, 2011-19.

Legislative policies that criminalize immigrants have a "chilling effect" on public program participation among eligible immigrants. However, little is known about the effect of local enforcement actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In this study, we linked county-level data on the number of detainer requests (or immigration holds) issued by ICE to individual-level data from the 2011, 2016, and 2019 American Community Surveys. We fit adjusted logistic regression models to assess the association between detainer requests and enrollment in Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) among those likely eligible for each program in US-born versus immigrant households. A higher volume of detainer requests was associated with lower enrollment in both Medicaid and SNAP, particularly among adults in households with at least one immigrant relative to US-born households. We observed the most pronounced effects in 2011 and 2019.

Investor–state dispute settlement in natural resources, energy and environmental cases

Faced with the triple planetary crises of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, states are increasingly taking regulatory action, especially in the natural resources and energy sectors, to address these pressing environmental problems. This regulatory action can impact financially on investments in the host state. In response, investors are resorting to investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS) clauses in investment treaties between states, claiming compensation for the financial impact of the regulatory action. This increase of ISDS claims is controversial. Amongst other criticisms, the bringing of ISDS claims, or even the threat of ISDS claims, has a chilling effect on states taking needed regulatory action to address pressing environmental problems. There have been calls for reform of the ISDS system, including its application to environmental regulation. This article maps the nature, history and evolution of ISDS claims in natural resources, energy and other environmental cases and the controversies these ISDS claims have attracted. The article canvasses the calls for reform of the ISDS system.

Making Tangible the Long-Term Harm Linked to the Chilling Effects of AI-enabled Surveillance: Can Human Flourishing Inform Human Rights?

AbstractAI-enabled State surveillance capabilities are likely to exert chilling effects whereby individuals modify their behavior due to a fear of the potential consequences if that behavior is observed. The risk is that chilling effects drive individuals towards the mainstream, slowly reducing the space for personal and political development. This could prove devastating for individuals’ ability to freely develop their identity and, ultimately, for the evolution and vibrancy of democratic society. As it stands, human rights law cannot effectively conceptualize this cumulative, longer-term, harm, and so cannot accurately evaluate the cost/benefit of AI tools, risking irreparable harm. As chilling effects impact individuals’ ability to live a good, self-determined life, the concept of human flourishing is relevant. This article engages with Aristotelian naturalism, the life-satisfaction approach, and the capabilities approach to determine which best resonates with the concept of identity as relevant to chilling effects and human rights law. It concludes that the capabilities approach may overcome some of the problems associated with the human rights law approach and may provide a framework capable of capturing both the intricate processes of free identity development and of conceptualizing the harm linked to AI surveillance. The challenge, however, is to ‘operationalize’ this approach.

The Real Effects of PCAOB Inspection Reports on the M&amp;A Deals of Non-Big 4 Accounting Firms

ABSTRACT Mergers and acquisitions (M&amp;As) are an important way for non-Big 4 accounting firms to grow their businesses. Non-Big 4 firms also account for the vast majority of PCAOB inspections. Consistent with negative inspection reports signaling low quality at inspected firms, we find that non-Big 4 accounting firms conduct fewer M&amp;A deals after they receive negative inspection reports. Additional analyses support our hypothesized signaling mechanism: (1) the chilling effect of inspection reports on M&amp;A activity is stronger when the inspected firm’s business is focused on public company audits, (2) the effect is stronger when stakeholders at the target firm know less about the acquirer because the acquirer is located in a different city, and (3) clients at the target firm switch to new firms rather than move over to the acquirer if the acquirer received a negative inspection report prior to the M&amp;A date. JEL Classifications: D82; G34; G38; M42; M48.

Exploring the Impact of Clery Sexual Assault Timely Warnings on a Campus Community

ABSTRACT The Clery Act requires higher education institutions to issue timely warnings in response to immediate safety concerns and to provide annual reports of campus crime data to the campus community. Despite 40 years of Clery-mandated timely warnings and reporting, rates of sexual violence on college campuses have not declined. Buidling on previous schoalrship about Clery Act requirements, we document more detailed challenges associated with complying with the Clery Act. Through a case study methodology, including interviews with university administrators and students, we examined the impact of a timely warning alert related to sexual assault on a campus community. We illustrate that campus community members feel confused about the intentions of timely warning alerts and uncertain about what to do with the information provided by the alerts. Additionally, the alerts created fear and anxiety among some members of the campus community and a chilling effect on reporting sexual violence. We provide implications for policymakers and researchers related to Clery compliance.

Role of cytokinins in the regulation the chilling stress response in Triticum aestivum and Triticum spelta

The research is devoted to the study of the effect of chilling (+4 °C, 2 h) on cytokinin homeostasis in 14-day stressed and 21-day restored plants of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cv. “Podolyanka” and spelt wheat (Triticum spelta L.) cv. “Frankenkorn”. Our study revealed that chilling induces complex changes in the content and distribution of cytokinins in plants that are species- and organ-specifi c. After chilling, the total cytokinin content in the roots of winter wheat cv. “Podolyanka” increased threefold due to the accumulation of trans-zeatin-O-glucoside, trans-zeatin, isopentenyladenine and isopentenyladenosine. Stress did not aff ect trans-zeatin riboside accumulation in roots but induced a fourfold increase in its content in the shoots of winter wheat cv. “Podolyanka”. The total content of cytokinin in the roots of spelt wheat cv. “Frankenkorn” decreased by 1.4 times due to decline in trans-zeatin-O-glucoside and trans-zeatin riboside content, while in shoots, it decreased by 1.2 times owing to reduced trans-zeatin-O-glucoside and isopentenyladenine levels. Prolonged exposure to chilling was manifested by an increase in hormone levels in both 21-day-old species. Our data revealed common and distinct traits in cytokinin homeostasis between winter wheat cv. “Podolyanka” and spelt wheat cv. “Frankenkorn” during rapid adaptation and the recovery period, providing new insights into the response of these species to chilling.

A quasi‐normative conflict: Resolving the tension between investment treaties and climate action

AbstractThe conflict between investment treaties and climate action is escalating due to recent investment arbitration cases challenging States' fossil fuel phase‐out measures as violations of investment treaty obligations. As countries continue to implement climate mitigation and adaptation measures across various industries, this tension is expected to result in a rise in climate‐related investment arbitration claims. The current literature has primarily presented the tension between investment and climate treaties as a vertical conflict, with investment treaties having a chilling effect on States' climate regulation. The common defence for States' regulation has been based on their ‘right to regulate’. It remains unclear whether there exists a horizontal conflict between investment and climate treaties, primarily due to the flexible nature of climate treaty obligations. However, a sovereignty‐based justification fails to recognise the international obligation of climate action and is insufficient for reconciling the conflict. This article delves into the intricate nature of the conflict between States' climate measures and their investment treaty obligations and argues that the conflict exhibits a ‘quasi‐normative’ nature, given the combination of binding climate obligations, permissive implementation methods and normative expectations of ambition. The article suggests that investment treaties should include clearly defined conflict clauses that outline the scope of the conflict between investment and climate treaties and establish specific mechanisms for resolving such conflicts.

The ability of biostimulants and copper-containing fungicide to protect cotton against chilling stress

BackgroundCotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.), adapted to tropical and subtropical regions of the world, is highly sensitive to low temperatures throughout its life cycle. The objective of this study was to evaluate the mitigating effects of different doses of animal-derived (0.25%, 0.50%, and 1.00% Isabion® ), seaweed-based (0.165%, 0.330%, and 0.660% Proton®) biostimulants, as well as a copper (Cu)-containing fungicide application, on cotton cultivar Lazer seedlings at the four true leaves (V4) stage. The plants were exposed to a low temperature of 5 °C for 48 h, and the changes in morphological (seedling fresh and dry weight, plant height, and stem diameter) and physiological parameters (leaf temperature, chlorophyll content, relative water content, electrolyte leakage, and relative injury) were examined.ResultsThe results revealed that chilling stress reduced plant growth, while biostimulants helped protect the plants and overcome the adverse effects of chilling. Under chilling stress, there was a considerable reduction in seedling fresh weight (SFW), seedling dry weight (SDW), plant height (PH), stem diameter (SD), leaf temperature (LT), and relative water content (RWC). Cotton seedlings treated with the animal-derived biostimulants showed significantly enhanced SFW, SDW, PH, SD, LT, chlorophyll content (Chl), electrolyte leakage (EL), and relative injury (RI), although there were no positive changes in RWC. No significant differences in the morphological traits were observed among the doses of seaweed biostimulants. For SDW, PH, EL, and RI, the best results were obtained with the application of a fungicide containing copper.ConclusionThese results show the efficiency of the biostimulant and fungicide treatments in mitigating low-temperature stress in cotton seedlings. Applying a copper-containing fungicide to cotton seedlings helped to counteract the negative effects of low-temperature stress and to protect the plants from damage by maintaining electrolyte balance. Among the biostimulant applications, all levels of animal-derived biostimulant applications, as well as the 0.660% level of the seaweed-derived biostimulant, led to increased tolerance of cotton plants to chilling stress.

Effects of chilling and cryoprotectants on glycans in shrimp embryos

Glycans are carbohydrates present in every organism that bind to specific molecules such as lectins, a diverse group of proteins. Glycans are vital to cell proliferation and protein trafficking. In addition, embryogenesis is a critical phase in the development of marine organisms. This study investigated the effects of chilling and cryoprotective agents (CPAs) on glycans in the embryos of Stenopus hispidus. The glycan profiles of embryos of S. hispidus at the heartbeat stage were analyzed using lectin arrays. The results of analyses revealed that mannose was the most abundant glycan in the S. hispidus embryos; mannose is crucial to cell proliferation, providing the energy required for embryonic growth. Additionally, the results reveled that chilling altered the content of several glycans, including fucose and Gla-GlcNAc. Chilling may promote monosaccharide accumulation, facilitating osmotic regulation of cells and signal molecules to aid S. hispidus embryos in adapting to cold conditions. Changes were also observed in the lectins NPA, orysata, PALa, ASA, discoidin II, discoidin I, UDA, PA-IIL, and PHA-P after the samples were treated with different CPAs. DMSO may minimize cell damage during exposure to chilling by preserving cell structures, membrane properties, and functions. The present study is the first to investigate the profiles and functions of glycans in shrimp embryos subjected to low-temperature injuries. This study enhances the understanding of cell reproduction during embryogenesis and provides valuable information for the study of glycans in embryos.

Controlled experiments fail to capture plant phenological response to chilling temperature

AbstractAimControlled experiments are increasingly important for investigating how and to what degree plant phenology responds to global climate change. Current experiments underline that chilling and forcing temperatures are two major environmental cues shaping the budburst date of temperate species, but whether experiments could reflect the observed responses to chilling has rarely been examined.LocationEurope and North America.Time periods1951–2021.Major taxa studiedTemperate trees and shrubs.MethodsUsing an experimental database of budburst dates for 50 species derived from previous literature and observational data of the same species at 12,579 stations in Europe and 1469 stations in the USA, we compared the response of forcing requirement (FR) of the budburst date to chilling accumulation (CA) between observations and experiments using a common measure of FR and CA.ResultsThe median, variance and probability distribution of CA‐FR curves differed significantly between experiments and observations in most cases. The distinction in chilling effects between experiments and observations could be attributed to the difference in thermal space, heat stress, genetic variation among provenances, different forcing treatments adopted and plant materials used in the experiments.Main conclusionsOur results suggest that the uncertainty of phenological models based solely on the experimental data needs to be re‐evaluated when predicting future spring phenological responses across broad spatial scales.