Level Of Polarization Research Articles

Polarization of gender role attitudes across Europe

ABSTRACT Value polarization is one of the key factors in societal development. This research focuses on whether opinions concerning gender roles in the domestic and public spheres are polarized in European societies, a topic still under-investigated. Based on the fifth wave of European Values Study data (2017–2020), the study shows that gender role attitudes in the domestic sphere are more polarized than those in the public sphere. Polarization by education, level of income, migration background, and degree of religiosity is stronger for gender role attitudes in the domestic sphere, whereas polarization by gender is stronger for gender role attitudes in the public sphere. Both gender role attitudes in the public and domestic spheres are most strongly polarized by education. At the same time, belonging to a social group with higher education, higher income, and lower religiosity can promote more progressive views towards gender roles. Opinions in Eastern European countries tend to seem more polarized than in Western European countries, even if with some exceptions. In countries with a higher level of gender equality, the level of polarization is a bit lower, while in countries where there is a remarkable rise of anti-gender narratives, opponent and conflictual views are higher.

What explains elite affective polarization? Evidence from Canadian politicians

AbstractConcerns about affective polarization are on the rise globally, and it has been associated with negative outcomes such as diminished trust in government and discrimination against out‐partisans. While elected politicians are typically thought to be a major source of mass‐level affective polarization, and despite the policy and representation consequences of heightened partisan hostility in legislatures, existing research has focused almost exclusively on the measurement and explanation of affective polarization among citizens. As a result, we know far less about the magnitude and sources of elite affective polarization. Here, we take a step towards addressing this gap using an original survey of hundreds of Canadian local politicians, a setting uniquely situated for addressing the role of a host of individual‐level and institutional‐level predictors of affective polarization. We find that Canadian local politicians are, on average, less affectively polarized than the citizens they represent. However, levels of affective polarization among these politicians vary considerably, with higher levels of affective polarization among politicians who are ideologues, partisans, and who harbor strong progressive ambition. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for research on affective polarization and describe the need for comparative studies of affective polarization among political elites.

Cross-Platform Partisan Positioning in Congressional Speech

Legislative activity—whether votes or communications—is often represented in a single partisan or ideological dimension. But as lawmakers communicate in various venues (e.g., traditional, direct, or social media), the extent to which these estimates are interchangeable—reflecting a common underlying dimension—is unclear. We estimate a partisan dimension in members’ tweets, Facebook posts, e-newsletters, press releases, and one-minute House floor speeches for the 116th U.S. Congress and test the extent to which representations remain consistent across different venues. We find that while Democrats are consistently separable from Republicans, members’ relative intra-party positions frequently shift between venues. This is likely driven by differences in the affordances and audiences present in each venue, as venues with more nationalized audiences (such as social media) show higher levels of rhetorical polarization than venues with more local audiences (e-newsletters). These results suggest that the level of polarization we observe depends on where we look, and that the scholars of congressional communication should explicitly consider the input they use to measure partisanship.

Does Populism Fuel Affective Polarization? An Individual-Level Panel Data Analysis

Populism and affective polarization speak of a bisected society, and scholars have linked them at the party level. While the relationship between populism and affective polarization can be reciprocal, this article leverages panel data to delve into the causal relationship between populism and affective polarization. First, I posit individuals who become identified with populist parties will hold higher levels of affective polarization. Second, I expect increases in levels of populist attitudes to heighten affective polarization, and this is explained by both the increase of affect towards the ingroup and the decrease of affect towards the outgroup. Using nine waves of a panel survey, results show the importance of differentiating between measures of populism at the individual level, as the increase in populist attitudes appears to fuel affective polarization, symmetrically increasing affect towards the ingroup and decreasing affect towards the outgroup, while the effect of becoming a populist party supporter is more nuanced, as it is different for populist left and right parties.

Disinformation in the Spanish public debate: an analysis of political speeches in the Congress of Deputies

Disinformation is one of the main challenges faced by modern democratic societies, becoming a crucial focus of study in political communication. Terms such as lie, falsehood, hoax, disinformation, or post-truth have become part of the daily language of the media, featured in numerous scientific studies, and entered political discourse. With the aim of delving into and determining the characteristic features of Spanish politicians' discourse on disinformation, a methodology of quantitative and qualitative content analysis is applied to a total of 1,115 interventions by members of the Congress of Deputies during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. This period is chosen due to its high levels of disinformation and polarization. The results indicate that the issue of disinformation is a minor topic on the Spanish political agenda. Furthermore, metrics confirm a much higher use of terms such as lie, false, and hoax, to the detriment of other words like disinformation or post-truth. An impact of the pandemic on the main themes related to this phenomenon is also detected, with health and the economy being the primary frames identified. From an interpretative perspective, this is attributed to the tendency of Spanish politicians to use this issue as just one element within a polarizing and confrontational rhetoric, generally eschewing proactive debates on the measures needed to address disinformation.

Political polarization may affect attitudes towards vaccination. An analysis based on the European Social Survey data from 23 countries.

Political polarization may result in increased confirmation bias, strengthening of disinformation mechanisms or policy distortion. This raises the question whether it may influence the vaccination programmes. This study investigates the relationship between the level of political polarization and coronavirus disease 2019 vaccine behaviour and vaccine acceptance. In our study, we use the Partisan Polarization Index (PPI). The PPI aims to measure the gap between satisfaction with the government expressed by supporters of the ruling parties and that expressed by supporters of the opposition parties. We use the data from the latest round of the European Social Service from 23 countries. The effect of the PPI on the variability of vaccination declarations and intent across countries was verified based on a linear regression model. The linear regression score for 23 countries revealed a statistically significant relationship between the vaccination variable and the level of political polarization. The model explains the variability in the vaccination levels based on the PPI in a given country at 38.6%. Political polarization can contribute to shaping negative attitudes towards vaccination through policy distortion, undermining the effectiveness of compliance against regulation, undermining trust in science and increasing the public's susceptibility to conspiracy theories.

Resveratrol-βcd inhibited premature ovarian insufficiency progression by regulating granulosa cell autophagy

BackgroundThe ovarian environment of premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) patients exhibits immune dysregulation, which leads to excessive secretion of numerous proinflammatory cytokines that affect ovarian function. An abnormal level of macrophage polarization directly or indirectly inhibits the differentiation of ovarian granulosa cells and steroid hormone production, ultimately leading to POI. Resveratrol, as a health supplement, has been widely recognized for its safety. There is a substantial amount of evidence indicating that resveratrol and its analogs possess significant immune-regulatory functions. It has also been reported that resveratrol can effectively inhibit the progression of POI. However, the underlying immunological and molecular mechanisms through which resveratrol inhibits the progression of POI are still unclear.ResultsOur preliminary reports have shown that resveratrol-βcd, the beta-cyclodextrin complex of resveratrol, significantly enhances the stability of resveratrol. Resveratrol-βcd could regulate the dysfunctional immune status of macrophages and T cells in the tumor microenvironment. In this study, we treated busulfan and cyclophosphamide (B/C)-treated mice, which were used as a POI model, with resveratrol-βcd. After resveratrol-βcd treatment, the levels of IL-6 in the ovaries were significantly increased, and the progression of POI was suppressed. IL-6 activated granulosa cells (GCs) through soluble IL-6R (sIL-6R), promoting autophagy in GCs. Resveratrol-βcd and IL-6 had a synergistic effect on enhancing autophagy in GCs and promoting E2 secretion.ConclusionsWe partially elucidated the immune mechanism by which resveratrol inhibits the progression of POI and the autophagy-regulating function of GCs. This provides a theoretical basis for using resveratrol to prevent POI in future studies and clinical guidance.

New radio continuum study of the large magellanic cloud supernova remnant N49

Abstract We present new Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) radio observations towards N 49, one of the brightest extragalactic supernova remnants (SNRs) located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Our new and archival ATCA radio observations were analysed along with Chandra X-ray data. These observations show a prominent ‘bullet’ shaped feature beyond the southwestern boundary of the SNR. Both X-ray morphology and radio polarisation analysis support a physical connection of this feature to the SNR. The ‘bullet’ feature’s apparent velocity is estimated at $\sim$ 1 300 km s $^{-1}$ , based on its distance ( $\sim$ 10 pc) from the remnant’s geometric centre and estimated age ( $\sim$ 7 600 yr). we estimated the radio spectral index, $\alpha= -0.55 \pm 0.03$ which is typical of middle-age SNRs. Polarisation maps created for N 49 show low to moderate levels of mean fractional polarisation estimated at 7 $\pm$ 1% and 10 $\pm$ 1% for 5.5 and 9 GHz, respectively. These values are noticeably larger than found in previous studies. Moreover, the mean value for the Faraday rotation of SNR N 49 from combining CABB data is 212 $\pm$ 65 rad m $^{-2}$ and the maximum value of RM is 591 $\pm$ 103 rad m $^{-2}$ .

Do Crowds Validate False Data? Systematic Distortion and Affective Polarization

This research note examines how socio-cognitive influences can systematically distort crowdsourced ground truth in event-centric data through subgroups. The "wisdom of the crowd" is based on the assumption that consensus drives accuracy. While existing research addresses tendencies of the overall crowd, this research note shows identifiable subgroups within the crowd can systematically influence crowdsource validation. We conducted an immersive experiment to investigate whether crowd consensus can be systematically distorted by subgroup-based socio-cognitive influences, such as affective polarization. In the experiment, raters from a range of subgroups with varying levels of affective polarization were asked to view and validate crisis data from a violent public riot in the year 2020. Relying in part on double debiased machine learning techniques, we analyze heterogeneous treatment effects across subgroups. The results show that affective polarization and more extreme raters, via the constructs of loyalty and betrayal, distort consensus-based ground truth in different ways. This research note demonstrates how subgroup-based socio-cognitive influences can systematically distort the results of consensus-based crowdsourced validation. Additionally, it provides guidance for research and practice on how to account for identifiable subgroups in the crowd. These findings challenge key assumptions about the wisdom of crowds and the accuracy of crowdsourced ground truth in event-centric situations.

Possible ferro-electro-magnetic behaviours of graphene-based materials: hydrogenated graphene, MWCNTs and reduced graphene-oxide (GO).

This study investigated the electric polarization and magnetic behaviours of various graphene-based materials, including hydrogenated graphene (H-graphene), multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), and reduced graphene oxide (r-GO). Results showed that MWCNTs exhibit higher magnetization, with a magnetic squareness (M r/M s) of approximately ≈0.5, compared to H-graphene (≈0.25). H-graphene exhibits the highest electric polarization compared to MWCNTs/r-GO, whereas r-GO demonstrates the lowest levels of polarization and magnetization compared to H-graphene/MWCNTs. The valence band maximum (4.08 eV for MWCNTs, 4.26 eV for H-graphene, and 4.78 eV for r-GO) in quasi-localized states at the Fermi level results in defects in the graphene-based lattice, which are associated with dipole moment and lead to alterations in magnetic behaviours. Different density of states (DOS) is attributed from the ultra-violet photoelectron spectra and the small variations in the Fermi edge is observed in H-graphene, MWCNTs, and r-GO are responsible for the observed magnetisation and polarizations. The unique polarization/magnetization behaviours present an opportunity for potential exploitation in storage and information processing technologies in the science and engineering community.

INVESTIGATION OF THE TRANSMEMBRANE POTENTIAL OF MITOCHONDRIA AND THE GENERATION OF FREE RADICAL COMPOUNDS IN LYMPHOCYTES OF CERVICAL CANCER PATIENTS

Summary. Important indicators that reflect changes in the functional state of non-malignant cells from the tumor environment and can be used as predictors of the occurrence of complications as a result of radiation and chemo radiation therapy are the level of polarization of the mitochondrial membrane and the intensity of production of reactive forms of oxygen and nitrogen (free radical compounds, FR). Aim: To investigate changes in the mitochondrial transmembrane potential (MTP) and the intensity of FR formation in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) of cervical cancer (CC) patients before the chemo radiation therapy. Object and methods: In the study used peripheral blood samples of 26 patients with СС before starting chemo radiation therapy and 29 apparently healthy individuals (AHI, control group). PBL isolation was performed on Histopaque®-1077. The level of TMP in lymphocytes was determined using the dye JC-1, the intensity of FR formation using the dye DCFH-DA. Results: It was shown that the tendency to lower TMP (by 1.46 times) and significantly lower FR formation (by 2.84 times) was observed in the PBL of patients with CC. In the examined patients with a greater degree of the size of the primary tumor and its’ invasion (T2 compared to T1) or a greater degree of tumor differentiation (G2 compared to G2/3-3), the TMP level was higher (by 1.35 and 1.47 times, respectively). In CC patients, in contrast to AHI, a significant correlation was found between the TMP level and the intensity of FR formation (r=0.473). It has been shown that in the PBL of CC patients with the stage of the tumor process T1N0M0 and the degree of the tumor differentiation G2, the level of TMP and the intensity of BP formation are significantly lower (by 1.91 times and 1.88 times, respectively) than in similar patients with uterine cancer, who has been examined before. Conclusions: The functioning of lymphocytes of patients with CC before chemo radiation therapy is already changed according to the indicators of TMP value and FR formation, which are significantly lower than in AHI lymphocytes. In contrast to the control group, a significant correlation was found between the TMP levels and BP formation in the PBL of the examined CC patients. It has been shown that in CC patients with a disease stage of T1N0M0 and a G2 tumor differentiation degree changes in the level of TMP and the FR formation are more pronounced than in a similar group of patients with uterine cancer. The obtained results are background for evaluating the changes occurring in the cells from the tumor environment after radiation therapy.

Trends in Democratic Attitudes: Bolivia 2004-2021

After more than a decade of political stability, in 2019 Bolivia suffered a major political crisis that ended with the resignation of a long-standing President, amidst popular unrest after a questioned election. While the crisis was the immediate result of a questionable attempt by the President to skip constitutional term limits, its roots can be found in the declining rates of support and satisfaction with democracy among citizens and in the polarization reaching democratic support. Using survey data from LAPOPs AmericasBarometer, this article finds that national averages for different measures for democratic support show declining trends, and, perhaps more importantly, they also show high levels of polarization, with supporters of the president showing radically different attitudes that those who are critics of the government, particularly during critical times. Cluster analyses performed on the same data indicate that the proportion of individuals who share attitudes that can be considered as “institutionalists” has been declining, while the proportion of those who support extra-powers for the executive and authoritarian alternatives, has increased. The article concludes discussing some risks for Bolivian democracy within its citizens’ attitudes towards democratic institutions.

Tailoring optical and dielectric properties of TiO2 through mono- and co-doping with Ag and Sr

In this study, we applied a direct and incipient wetness impregnation technique to synthesize titanium dioxide (TiO2) doped with silver (Ag), strontium (Sr), and a combination of the two elements. The purpose was to further our understanding of doped TiO2 materials. The results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed that the agglomerated particles of the doped composites had smaller sizes than those of pure TiO2. The incorporation of Ag–Sr bimetallic doping led to a more pronounced reduction in the particle size. The SEM images revealed no significant morphological alterations in the TiO2, Ag/TiO2, Sr/TiO2, and Ag–Sr/TiO2 composites. We also examined the dielectric characteristics of composites within a range of temperature of 25 °C–120 °C and a range of frequency of 100 Hz to 0.3 MHz. The electrical conductivity and dielectric permittivity of TiO2 were enhanced as a result of doping. The optical characteristics of the composites indicated that the introduction of Ag, Sr, and Ag–Sr into TiO2 led to an increase in both their refractive index and Urbach energy. This led in turn to a progressive reduction in the energy band gap (Eg) from the Ag-doped samples to the Ag–Sr-doped samples, with the Sr-doped samples exhibiting an intermediate reduction in Eg. The findings of this study indicate that the introduction of Ag, Sr, and Ag–Sr into TiO2 enhanced its refractive index. Notably, the Ag–Sr/TiO2 composite exhibited the most significant increase in the refractive index of all the composites considered. This phenomenon can be attributed to the increased level of polarization and crystallinity of the compound. By contrast, the incorporation of Ag, Sr, and Ag–Sr into composite materials composed of TiO2 led to a reduction in the values of Eg, where this renders these materials suitable for various optical applications.

Are Initiatives an End-Run Around the Legislative Process? Divided Government and Voter Support for California Initiatives

AbstractInterest groups and policy advocates often view the initiative process as a way to circumvent a gridlocked state legislative process. A major assumption behind this strategy is that this alternative path can be successful. We theorize that the same conflict and lack of consensus that killed the legislation in the legislative process may resurface in the electorate and jeopardize the measure’s chances of success at the ballot box. We test this proposition on all initiatives in California from 1912 to 2020 and on a smaller subset of the data that controls for campaign spending and the economy. We find clear and consistent evidence that voter support for initiatives, especially fiscal initiatives, declines under periods of divided government. In addition, interactive models show that increasing levels of party polarization exacerbate these effects. We conclude by discussing the implications of these results for the debate about whether the initiative process makes states more responsive to constituent opinion.

Territorial disputes and affective polarization

AbstractCan territorial disputes within countries be a basis for affective polarization? If so, how does it vary across territories? A burgeoning literature on affective polarization has largely focused on partisan divisions; we argue that contentious political issues such as those relating to territorial integrity can also be a basis for such affective polarization, where citizens feel concord with those sharing such policy preferences and animus for those who do not. We specify hypotheses about territorial‐policy‐based affective polarization and bring comparative survey evidence from three European regions with salient and contentious territorial claims: Scotland, Catalonia and Northern Ireland. While these three cases encompass different outcomes of territorial disputes, our results show strikingly similar levels of affective polarization.

Political polarization and emotion rhetoric in the US presidential transition: A comparative study of Trump and Biden on Twitter and the post-election impact on the public

The pictures of the US Capitol attack, on January 6, 2021, represent a before and after in a country marked by the culture of political polarization. Following a presidential campaign based on misinformation and accusations of electoral fraud by Republican candidate Donald Trump, the level of maximum polarization causes a climate of social rupture. Faced with this, the Democratic candidate and winner of the elections, Joe Biden, projects a discourse of institutional stability and legality as a strategy before public opinion. Two years later, the abrupt division of the US electorate is evident, with a significant percentage of Republican voters questioning the legitimacy of the electoral process. The objective of this research is to find out the strategies of political polarization deployed by Donald Trump and Joe Biden on Twitter in the 2020-2021 presidential transition period, as well as the public’s response. Based on a general sample of 1,060 tweets, a comparative content analysis methodology with a triple approach (quantitative-qualitative-discursive) is applied, based on the study of themes, emotions, and the ability to go viral of the messages of both political leaders. The results confirm a Trump’s speech defined by polarization, misinformation and the attack on the democratic system, relegating information from his presidential administration in the last months of his term to the background. On the contrary, Biden avoids confrontation and reinforces his legitimacy as president-elect, by announcing management measures of the future government. The engagement value of the social audience on Twitter is also added, with a position of support for the winner of the elections.

Political content and news are polarized but other content is not in YouTube watch histories

Research on ideological biases and polarization on social media platforms primarilyfocuses on news and political content. Non-political content, which isvastly more popular, is often overlooked. Because partisanship is correlatedwith citizens’ non-political attitudes and non-political content can carry politicalcues, we explore whether ideological biases and partisan segregation extendto users’ non-political exposures online. We focus on YouTube, one of the mostpopular platforms. We rely online data from American adults (N = 2,237).From over 129 million visits to over 37 million URLs, we analyze 1,037,392visits to YouTube videos from 1,874 participants. We identify YouTube channelsof 942 news domains, utilize a BERT-based classifier to identify politicalvideos outside news channels, and estimate the ideology of all the videos inour data. We compare ideological biases in exposure to (a) news, (b) political,and (c) non-political content. We examine both exposure congeniality (i.e., areusers consuming like-minded content?) and polarization (i.e. are there overlapsbetween Democrats and Republicans in the content they consume?). Wefind substantial congeniality in the consumption of news and political videos,especially among Republicans, and high levels of polarization in this exposure(i.e., limited overlaps between Democrats and Republicans). We also showthat both exposure congeniality and polarization are significantly lower fornon-political content, in that non-political videos are less likely to be ideologicallylike-minded and both Democrats and Republicans consume similarnon-political content. Theoretical and practical implications of these findingsare discussed.

First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. IX. Detection of Near-horizon Circular Polarization

Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observations have revealed a bright ring of emission around the supermassive black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy. EHT images in linear polarization have further identified a coherent spiral pattern around the black hole, produced from ordered magnetic fields threading the emitting plasma. Here we present the first analysis of circular polarization using EHT data, acquired in 2017, which can potentially provide additional insights into the magnetic fields and plasma composition near the black hole. Interferometric closure quantities provide convincing evidence for the presence of circularly polarized emission on event-horizon scales. We produce images of the circular polarization using both traditional and newly developed methods. All methods find a moderate level of resolved circular polarization across the image (〈∣v∣〉 < 3.7%), consistent with the low image-integrated circular polarization fraction measured by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (∣v int∣ < 1%). Despite this broad agreement, the methods show substantial variation in the morphology of the circularly polarized emission, indicating that our conclusions are strongly dependent on the imaging assumptions because of the limited baseline coverage, uncertain telescope gain calibration, and weakly polarized signal. We include this upper limit in an updated comparison to general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulation models. This analysis reinforces the previously reported preference for magnetically arrested accretion flow models. We find that most simulations naturally produce a low level of circular polarization consistent with our upper limit and that Faraday conversion is likely the dominant production mechanism for circular polarization at 230 GHz in M87*.

Orientation and intensity of maximum response spectral ordinates during the December 20, 2022 Mw 6.4 Ferndale, California earthquake

The level of horizontal ground motion intensity can have large variations from one orientation to another. This study examines the orientation of the maximum response of 5%-damped linear oscillators and its geographical distribution for ground motions recorded during the December 20, 2022, Ferndale, CA earthquake. The orientation of the maximum intensity is found to generally occur close to the transverse orientation for epicentral distances greater than 30 km. At epicentral distances less than 30 km, the angular difference between the orientation of the maximum intensity and the transverse orientation does not show a clear predominant orientation. The angular difference with respect to the transverse orientation is found to be strongly correlated with the level of intensity. The ground motion intensity at the transverse orientation was, on average, between 85% and 95% of the maximum intensity and was 1.0–1.26 times greater than the RotD50 intensity (i.e., the median intensity from all horizontal orientations). The level of polarization increases with the period of the oscillator and ground motions remain fairly polarized up to 350 km from the epicenter. The results support a case for future incorporation of directionality effects, and in particular, the use of orientation relative to the transverse orientation, when estimating response spectral ordinates from strike-slip earthquakes.

Polarization Influence on Algorithms of TFBG Sensors Data Analysis for Bending Application

In this article we deal with the influence of polarization on determining the bending radius in TFBG (tilted fiber Bragg grating) sensors. The spectrum of TFBG structures changes under the influence of many factors at the same time. In the case of bending radius measurements, additional factors may be the temperature and polarization state of the introduced light. So far, only the cladding mode envelope algorithm has been used to determine the bending radius. An interesting issue seems to be establishing the influence of cross-sensitivity of the spectrum on changes in polarization during bending measurements. In addition to the envelope algorithm, algorithms for spectral length and average deviation from the local mean were examined. As a result of the analysis of experimental data, it was found that the level of polarization’s influence on the result may be significant in determining the bending radius. Reducing the influence of polarization can be achieved by using algorithms providing wavelength parameters. Additionally, in order to reduce the influence of polarization, we proposed the use of the PLS (partial least squares regression) algorithm for the processed spectrum.