Does a Country Effect Exist？ Issues Related to Deployment of Foreign Direct Investments in the European Union Countries

Goal of this paper shall be examination of factors which have an impact on unequal deployment of foreign direct investments （FDIs） in European Union （EU） countries. In order to achieve the desired goal, the author shall conduct analysis of FDIs＇ location based on the selection of variables which in the literature of the subject has been recognized to be potentially correlated with inflow of the FDIs.     

Race/Ethnic-Specific Homicide Rates in New York City: Evaluating the Impact of Broken Windows Policing and Crack Cocaine Markets

The current study evaluated a range of social influences including misdemeanor arrests, drug arrests, cocaine consumption, alcohol consumption, firearm availability, and incarceration that may be associated with changes in gun-related homicides by racial/ethnic group in New York City (NYC) from 1990 to 1999. Using police precincts as the unit of analysis, we used cross-sectional, time series data to examine changes in Black, White, and Hispanic homicides, separately. Bayesian hierarchical models with a spatial error term indicated that an increase in cocaine consumption was associated with an increase in Black homicides. An increase in firearm availability was associated with an increase in Hispanic homicides. Last, there were no significant predictors for White homicides. Support was found for the crack cocaine hypotheses but not for the broken windows hypothesis. Examining racially/ethnically disaggregated data can shed light on group-sensitive mechanisms that may explain changes in homicide over time.     

Terraskin® the paper made from stone: a study of a new writing support for forensic purposes

Can a mineral paper be called paper? Until now all known writing supports have been ancient stones and tablets, parchment, and paper of vegetable origin, such as papyrus and fiber pulp paper. Some years ago polymeric banknotes appeared in Australia, and in 2004 mineral paper (stone plus polymer) emerged as an ecological alternative to pulp paper. In this article we study the physical and elemental features of a mineral paper such as the behavior of Terraskin? paper. We also study its behavior as a writing support, either for handwriting or printing, and compare these results with those usually obtained for paper made from pulp.     

Partisan News and Political Participation: Exploring Mediated Relationships

This study examines mediators of the relationship between news consumption and political participation in the contemporary news environment. We test the differential effects exerted by pro- and counter-attitudinal news compared with balanced news on intended participation. Our primary objective is to model three paths that may link news exposure and participation: cognitive (i.e., perceived issue understanding), affective (i.e., emotions evoked by a news story), and attitudinal (i.e., attitude strength). We compare these paths across four issues, testing which is strongest. Relying on a large survey-based experiment on a representative sample of the American population (N = 2,300), we find that pro-attitudinal exposure increases intended participation relative to balanced news exposure, while the effects of counter-attitudinal news do not differ from those exerted by balanced news. Issue understanding, anger, positive emotions, and attitude strength all mediate the relationship between pro-attitudinal exposure and intended participation, with the route via attitude strength being strongest. These effects do not depend on whether exposure is self-selected or experimentally assigned.     

How can “Katowice as European City of Science” change Silesia region: Recognising perspectives of private companies

The study analyses, the perception of the European City of Science (ECS) initiative planned event in Katowice in the context of the city and region's development in the eyes of private companies. It has been argued that this honour may change the city's prestige and become the source of the city and the region's development, not only through building the city's recognisable brand but also its social capital. Using focus research as a method enables not only to collect empirical data but can also be treated as a form of public participation. The study results contribute to the growing body of literature on public engagement and co-creation as well as place branding. The study's findings show the companies' expectations concerning the role of universities and their participation in the region's development. They were the foundation for preparing a set of suggestions for local governments to successfully implement the ECS initiative. This paper is the first to examine the process of preparing a city to become an ECS, as demonstrated through the case study of Katowice.     

The (Null) Effects of Happiness on Affective Polarization,Conspiracy Endorsement,and Deep Fake Recognition: Evidence from Five Survey Experiments in Three Countries

Affective polarization is a key concern in America and other democracies. Although past evidence suggests some ways to minimize it, there are no easily applicable interventions that have been found to work in the increasingly polarized climate. This project examines whether irrelevant factors, or incidental happiness more specifically, have the power to reduce affective polarization (i.e., misattribution of affect or “carryover effect”). On the flip side, happiness can minimize systematic processing, thus enhancing beliefs in conspiracy theories and impeding individual ability to recognize deep fakes. Three preregistered survey experiments in the US, Poland, and the Netherlands (total N?=?3611) induced happiness in three distinct ways. Happiness had no effects on affective polarization toward political outgroups and hostility toward various divisive social groups, and also on endorsement of conspiracy theories and beliefs that a deep fake was real. Two additional studies in the US and Poland (total N?=?2220), also induced anger and anxiety, confirming that all these incidental emotions had null effects. These findings, which emerged uniformly in three different countries, among different partisan and ideological groups, and for those for whom the inductions were differently effective, underscore the stability of outgroup attitudes in contemporary America and other countries.

     

Moderators and Mediators of Framing Effects in Political Marketing: Implications for Political Brand Management

Due to its important practical implications, there has been a growing number of studies on framing conducted by scholars from various research domains. There has been, however, no paper that would provide a comprehensive overview of various moderators and mediators of the effect. The aim of this paper is to address this research gap, concentrating on psychological moderators and mediators of framing characteristic for political marketing. The paper consists of three parts. In the first part, the concepts of framing, priming and agenda-setting as well as the similarities and differences between them are presented in order to resolve common terminological inconsistencies. In the second, we discuss the moderating role of such variables as knowledge, trust in media and values on framing effect. In the third section, psychological mechanisms that underlie framing and priming are reviewed. Here, cognitive mediators such as accessibility and applicability effects are presented, followed by the discussion of the moderating and mediating role of emotions in framing effects, with special attention given to positive-negative asymmetry observed in the evaluation of political candidates and events. Finally, implication for political brand management are discussed. Our findings can be relevant for politicians, specialists dealing in political brand image and scholars studying framing effects.     

Y-chromosomal haplotypes for the AmpFlSTR Yfiler PCR Amplification Kit in a population sample from Central Poland

Haplotype and allele frequencies for 17 Y-STR loci (DYS456, DYS389I/II, DYS390, DYS458, DYS19, DYS385 I/II, Y GATA H4, DYS437, DYS438, DYS448, DYS393, DYS391, DYS439, Y GATA C4, DYS392) were determined in 255 unrelated males from central Poland using AmpFlSTR Yfiler PCR Amplification Kit. Two hundred and fifty-two different haplotypes were observed. The most common three haplotypes were shared by 0.8% of the sample, respectively. Two hundred and forty-nine haplotypes were encountered only once.     

Analysis of Mitochondrial DNA from a Burned,Ninhydrin‐Treated Paper Towel

Contact‐based evidence is likely to have limited quantities of DNA and may yield mixed profiles due to preexisting or contaminating DNA. In a recent arson investigation, a paper towel was collected and used as circumstantial evidence. The paper towel was partially burned and was likely set on fire with flammable liquid. As part of the investigation, the paper towel was treated with ninhydrin to visualize fingerprint evidence. Initial DNA analysis of two swabs was negative for short tandem repeat (STR) markers and revealed a mixture of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Analysis of 13 additional cuttings yielded four more mixed profiles, but also two samples with a common single‐source profile. The single‐source mtDNA profile matched that of the primary suspect in the case. Thus, even if initial mtDNA analysis yields a mixed profile, a sampling strategy involving multiple locations can improve the chance of obtaining valuable single‐source mtDNA profiles from compromised evidence in criminal casework.     

Automatic Encoding of Ambiguous Child Behavior in High and Low Risk for Child Physical Abuse Parents

Recent theory and research suggest that physically abusive parenting behavior might be understood as originating from: 1) greater accessibility of hostile/negative schema, and/or 2) lower accessibility of benign/positive schema. This study examined whether parents at high and low risk for child physical abuse (CPA) differed in the extent to which they spontaneously encoded ambiguous caregiving contexts in negative versus positive terms. Twenty-five high and forty-one low risk for CPA parents were asked to memorize a set of sentences that described ambiguous caregiving situations. After a brief delay, participants were asked to recall the sentences. During recall, cues were given (e.g., negative and positive words) to facilitate recall. According to the cued-recall paradigm, to the extent that recall was facilitated by negative/positive cues, it was inferred that negative/positive meaning was activated when the ambiguous sentences were encoded. Although all parents tended to recall more information in response to negative relative to positive cues, the influence of cue type on recall was greater for high CPA risk parents. That is, high, compared to low, CPA risk parents obtained significantly higher recall difference scores (M = 4.6 versus M = 2.3); with higher recall difference scores indicating greater recall in response to negative relative to positive cues. Present findings are consistent with the proposition that high and low CPA risk parents differ in how they spontaneously encode information in ambiguous caregiving contexts.