Inflation in 2022 did not affect congressional voting, but abortion did.

This study examines voting in the 2022 United States congressional elections, contests that were widely expected to produce a sizable defeat for Democratic candidates for largely economic reasons. Based on a representative national probability sample of voters interviewed in both 2020 and 2022, individuals who changed their vote from one party's congressional candidate to another party's candidate did not do so in response to the salience of inflation or declining economic conditions. Instead, we find strong evidence that views on abortion were central to shifting votes in the midterm elections. Americans who favored (opposed) legal abortions were more likely to shift from voting for Republican (Democratic) candidates in 2020 to Democratic (Republican) candidates in 2022. Since a larger number of Americans supported than opposed legal abortions, the combination of these shifts ultimately improved the electoral prospects of Democratic candidates. New voters were especially likely to weigh abortion views heavily in their vote-shifting calculus. Likewise, those respondents whose confidence in the US Supreme Court declined from 2020 to 2022 were more likely to shift from voting for Republican to Democratic congressional candidates. We provide direct empirical evidence that changes in support for the Supreme Court, a nonpartisan branch of the federal government, are implicated in partisan voting behavior in another branch of government. We explore the implications of these findings for prevalent assumptions about how economic conditions influence voting, as well as for the relationship between the judiciary and electoral politics.

Analytical and toxicological aspects of nanomaterials in different product groups: Challenges and opportunities.

The widespread integration of engineered nanomaterials into consumer and industrial products creates new challenges and requires innovative approaches in terms of design, testing, reliability, and safety of nanotechnology. The aim of this review article is to give an overview of different product groups in which nanomaterials are present and outline their safety aspects for consumers. Here, release of nanomaterials and related analytical challenges and solutions as well as toxicological considerations, such as dose-metrics, are discussed. Additionally, the utilization of engineered nanomaterials as pharmaceuticals or nutraceuticals to deliver and release cargo molecules is covered. Furthermore, critical pathways for human exposure to nanomaterials, namely inhalation and ingestion, are discussed in the context of risk assessment. Analysis of NMs in food, innovative medicine or food contact materials is discussed. Specific focus is on the presence and release of nanomaterials, including whether nanomaterials can migrate from polymer nanocomposites used in food contact materials. With regard to the toxicology and toxicokinetics of nanomaterials, aspects of dose metrics of inhalation toxicity as well as ingestion toxicology and comparison between in vitro and in vivo conclusions are considered. The definition of dose descriptors to be applied in toxicological testing is emphasized. In relation to potential exposure from different products, opportunities arising from the use of advanced analytical techniques in more unique scenarios such as release of nanomaterials from medical devices such as orthopedic implants are addressed. Alongside higher product performance and complexity, further challenges regarding material characterization and safety, as well as acceptance by the general public are expected.

Effects of changes in perceived discrimination during BLM on the 2020 presidential election.

Few Americans change their choice of presidential candidate to a different political party from election to election. This study evaluates whether and in what direction the Black Lives Matter movement affected the small percentage of voters whose presidential votes changed from 2016 to 2020. Six waves of nationally representative probability surveys are used to establish that significant increases in the extent to which Americans perceived discrimination against Blacks and to which people favored more government efforts to address racial inequality both occurred in 2020. Using panel data, results suggest that increases in perceptions of racial inequality significantly increased the probability of vote switching toward the Democratic candidate. Attention to racial injustice also primed voters to rely more heavily on this issue when evaluating candidates.

The psychology of separation: Border walls, soft power, and international neighborliness.

This study assesses the impact of international border walls on evaluations of countries and on beliefs about bilateral relationships between states. Using a short video, we experimentally manipulate whether a border wall image appears in a broader description of the history and culture of a little-known country. In a third condition, we also indicate which bordering country built the wall. Demographically representative samples from the United States, Ireland, and Turkey responded similarly to these experimental treatments. Compared to a control group, border walls lowered evaluations of the bordering countries. They also signified hostile international relationships to third-party observers. Furthermore, the government of the country responsible for building the wall was evaluated especially negatively. Reactions were consistent regardless of people's predispositions toward walls in their domestic political context. Our findings have important implications for a country's attractiveness, or "soft power," an important component of nonmilitary influence in international relations.

Status threat, not economic hardship, explains the 2016 presidential vote.

This study evaluates evidence pertaining to popular narratives explaining the American public's support for Donald J. Trump in the 2016 presidential election. First, using unique representative probability samples of the American public, tracking the same individuals from 2012 to 2016, I examine the "left behind" thesis (that is, the theory that those who lost jobs or experienced stagnant wages due to the loss of manufacturing jobs punished the incumbent party for their economic misfortunes). Second, I consider the possibility that status threat felt by the dwindling proportion of traditionally high-status Americans (i.e., whites, Christians, and men) as well as by those who perceive America's global dominance as threatened combined to increase support for the candidate who emphasized reestablishing status hierarchies of the past. Results do not support an interpretation of the election based on pocketbook economic concerns. Instead, the shorter relative distance of people's own views from the Republican candidate on trade and China corresponded to greater mass support for Trump in 2016 relative to Mitt Romney in 2012. Candidate preferences in 2016 reflected increasing anxiety among high-status groups rather than complaints about past treatment among low-status groups. Both growing domestic racial diversity and globalization contributed to a sense that white Americans are under siege by these engines of change.

Integrin alpha3beta1 interacts with I1PP2A/lanp and phosphatase PP1.

Integrin alpha3beta1 is a receptor for the extracellular matrix component laminin 5. To elucidate possible signaling pathways induced by integrin alpha3beta1, we looked for proteins that interact with the cytoplasmic part of the alpha3A integrin subunit. We identified several multifunctional proteins by affinity chromatography and subsequent MALDI-TOF-MS and focused on the inhibitor 1 of serine/threonine phosphatase PP2A (I1PP2A, synonym: lanp) which also plays a role during the development of the mouse cerebellum. I1PP2A/lanp colocalizes with the alpha3A integrin subunit in differentiated PC12 cells in the cell body and in neurites as well as in Purkinje cells of mouse cerebellum. Overexpression of GFP-I1PP2A/lanp in PC12 cells leads to markedly reduced neurite length on laminin 5 after induction with nerve growth factor. By affinity chromatography the protein phosphatase PP1 can also be identified as a alpha3A/cyto-binding protein. PP1 and integrin alpha3beta1 can be pulled down by GST-I1PP2A/lanp from cell lysates of differentiated and undifferentiated PC12 cells. The phosphatase binds to the cytoplasmic membrane-proximal conserved GFFKR motif of the alpha integrin subunit, whereas I1PP2A/lanp requires a longer sequence for binding. PP1 but not PP2A is able to dephosphorylate precipitated integrin alpha3beta1 in vitro. Furthermore, PP1 releases phosphate from T1046 of phosphopeptides that mimic the phosphorylation consensus sequence in the cytoplasmic part of the alpha3A integrin subunit. These data suggest that I1PP2A/lanp forms a complex with PP1 and the alpha3A integrin subunit and might possibly regulate the phosphorylation status of integrin alpha3beta1 and/or integrin downstream targets.