The degree to which individuals prefer smaller sooner versus larger delayed rewards serves as a powerful predictor of their impulsivity towards a number of different kinds of rewards. Here we test the limits of its predictive ability within a variety of cognitive and social domains. Across several large samples of subjects, individuals who prefer smaller more immediate rewards (steeper discounters) are less reflective (or more impulsive) in their choices, preferences, and beliefs. First, steeper discounters used more automatic, less controlled choice strategies, giving more intuitive but incorrect responses on the Cognitive Reflection Test (replicating previous findings); employing a suboptimal probability matching heuristic for a one-shot gamble (rather than maximizing their probability of reward); and relying less on optimal planning in a two-stage reinforcement learning task. Second, steeper discounters preferred to consume information that was less complex and multi-faceted, as suggested by their self-reported Need for Cognitive Closure, their use of short-form social media (i.e., Twitter), and their preferred news sources (in particular, whether or not they preferred National Public Radio over other news sources). Third, steeper discounters had interpersonal and religious beliefs that are associated with reduced epistemic complexity: they were more likely to believe that the behavior of others could be explained by fixed rather than dynamic factors, and they believed more strongly in God and in the afterlife. Together these findings provide evidence for a link between individual differences in temporal discounting for monetary rewards and preferences for the path of least resistance (less reflective and/or more automatic modes of processing) across a variety of domains.

Identifying pests associated with novel crops is important for forecasting impacts on their production and determining if they could be reservoirs of pests moving over onto cash crops. We carried out preliminary pest surveys in two bioenergy crops, carinata (Brassica carinata Alexander Braun (Brassicaceae)) and camelina (Camelina sativa (Linnaeus) Crantz (Brassicaceae)), and a cover crop mix under evaluation to replace fallow in rotations with wheat. Insect pests were sampled in each of the three crops over two years. Crucifer flea beetles, Phyllotreta cruciferae Goeze (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), dominated the pest complex associated with carinata and the cover crop mix, comprising more than 70% of the insects sampled. In contrast, the pest complex associated with camelina was dominated (40–91%) by generalist Lygus spp. (Heteroptera: Miridae). Crucifer flea beetles were 200–1000 times more abundant in carinata than in camelina, suggesting that they could be a serious pest of carinata. Camelina, in contrast, appears less likely to be attacked by, or serve as a reservoir for, crucifer flea beetles. Future work to assess feeding damage and population buildup of pests in these crops is needed to determine impacts on their production and the extent to which they may be reservoirs of canola pests over broader spatial scales.

Colonialism came late to northern Guatemala. The Spanish began to establish missions in the Peten Lakes region in the early 1700s, nearly 200 years after initial contact with the Mayas. Excavations in 2011–2012 at the Mission San Bernabé revealed European goods, nonnative animal species, and burial patterns that marked a new lifestyle. Who lived at the Mission San Bernabé, and where did they come from? The Spanish resettled indigenous populations to facilitate the colonization process; however, isotopic data are inconsistent with large population movements. Instead, strontium and oxygen isotope values in the tooth enamel and bones of individuals buried at the mission suggest a mostly local population. The data suggest in-migration from Belize, a region under nominal Spanish control, but with pre-Hispanic ties to the Peten. Changes did not come from migrants crossing a border; instead, the border itself moved and brought the colonial world to the Peten Mayas.

Contact precautions are a traditional strategy to prevent transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Chlorhexidine bathing is increasingly used to decrease MRSA burden and transmission in intensive care units (ICUs). We sought to evaluate a hospital policy change from routine contact precautions for MRSA compared with universal chlorhexidine bathing, without contact precautions. We measured new MRSA acquisition in ICU patients and surveyed for MRSA environmental contamination in common areas and non-MRSA patient rooms before and after the policy change. During the baseline and chlorhexidine bathing periods, the number of patients (453 vs. 417), ICU days (1999 vs. 1703) and MRSA days/1000 ICU days (109 vs. 102) were similar. MRSA acquisition (2/453 vs. 2/457, P = 0·93) and environmental MRSA contamination (9/474 vs. 7/500, P = 0·53) were not significantly different between time periods. There were 58% fewer contact precaution days in the ICU during the chlorhexidine period (241/1993 vs. 102/1730, P < 0·01). We found no evidence that discontinuation of contact precautions for patients with MRSA in conjunction with adoption of daily chlorhexidine bathing in ICUs is associated with increased MRSA acquisition among ICU patients or increased MRSA contamination of ICU fomites. Although underpowered, our findings suggest this strategy, which has the potential to reduce costs and improve patient safety, should be assessed in similar but larger studies.

Harsh, abusive, and rejecting behavior by parents toward their children is associated with increased risk for many developmental problems for youth. Children raised by harsh parents are also more likely to treat their own children harshly. The present study addresses conditions that would break this intergenerational cycle of harsh parenting. Data come from a three-generation study of a cohort of 290 adolescents (Generation 2 [G2], 52% female) grown to adulthood and their parents (Generation 1 [G1]). During adolescence, observers rated G1 harsh parenting to G2. Several years later observers rated G2 harsh parenting toward their oldest child (Generation 3 [G3]). Several adaptive systems fundamental to human resilience attenuate intergenerational continuity in harshness. G2 parents were relatively less harsh to G3 children (notwithstanding a history of harshness from G1) when G2's romantic partner (a) communicated positively with G2 and (b) had a good relationship with G3, and (c) when G2 was high on self-control. Interventions that target all of these protective factors may not only break but also reverse the intergenerational cycle of child maltreatment.

The present study examined the development of a cohort of 279 early adolescents (52% female) from 1990 to 2005. Guided by the interactionist model of socioeconomic status and human development, we proposed that parent aggressive personality, economic circumstances, interparental conflict, and parenting characteristics would affect the development of adolescent aggressive personality traits. In turn, we hypothesized that adolescent aggressiveness would have a negative influence on adolescent functioning as an adult in terms of economic success, personality development, and close relationships 11 years later. Findings were generally supportive of the interactionist model proposition that social and economic difficulties in the family of origin intensify risk for adolescent aggressive personality (the social causation hypothesis) and that this personality trait impairs successful transition to adult roles (the social selection hypothesis) in a transactional process over time and generations. These results underscore how early development leads to child influences that appear to directly hamper the successful transition to adult roles (statistical main effects) and also amplify the negative impact of dysfunctional family systems on the transition to adulthood (statistical interaction effects). The findings suggest several possible points of intervention that might help to disrupt this negative developmental sequence of events.

The Early Growth and Development Study is a prospective adoption study of birth parents, adoptive parents, and adopted children (N = 359 triads) that was initiated in 2003. The primary study aims are to examine how family processes mediate or moderate the expression of genetic influences in order to aid in the identification of specific family processes that could serve as malleable targets for intervention. Participants in the study are recruited through adoption agencies located throughout the United States, following the birth of a child. Assessments occur at 6-month intervals until the child reaches 3 years of age. Data collection includes the following primary constructs: infant and toddler temperament, social behavior, and health; birth and adoptive parent personality characteristics, psychopathology, competence, stress, and substance use; adoptive parenting and marital relations; and prenatal exposure to drugs and maternal stress. Preliminary analyses suggest the representativeness of the sample and minimal confounding effects of current trends in adoption practices, including openness and selective placement. Future plans are described.

The current study examines the interplay between parental overreactivity and children's genetic backgrounds as inferred from birth parent characteristics on the development of negative emotionality during infancy, and in turn, to individual differences in externalizing problems in toddlerhood. The sample included 361 families linked through adoption (birth parents and adoptive families). Data were collected when the children were 9, 18, and 27 months old. Results indicated links between individual levels and changes in negative emotionality during infancy and toddlerhood to externalizing problems early in the third year of life. Findings also revealed an interaction between birth mother negative affect and adoptive mother overreactive parenting on children's negative emotionality. This Genotype × Environment interaction predicted externalizing problems indirectly through its association with negative emotionality and revealed stronger effects of genetic risk for children with less overreactive parenting from their mothers. Limitations of this study and directions for future research are discussed.

The current multigenerational study evaluates the utility of the interactionist model of socioeconomic influence on human development (IMSI) in explaining problem behaviors across generations. The IMSI proposes that the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and human development involves a dynamic interplay that includes both social causation (SES influences human development) and social selection (individual characteristics affect SES). As part of the developmental cascade proposed by the IMSI, the findings from this investigation showed that Generation 1 (G1) adolescent problem behavior predicted later G1 SES, family stress, and parental emotional investments, as well as the next generation of children's problem behavior. These results are consistent with a social selection view. Consistent with the social causation perspective, we found a significant relation between G1 SES and family stress, and in turn, family stress predicted Generation 2 (G2) problem behavior. Finally, G1 adult SES predicted both material and emotional investments in the G2 child. In turn, emotional investments predicted G2 problem behavior, as did material investments. Some of the predicted pathways varied by G1 parent gender. The results are consistent with the view that processes of both social selection and social causation account for the association between SES and human development.

The Seychelles Warbler was once a highly threatened single-island endemic species with a population of 26 individuals confined to Cousin Island in the inner Seychelles. Following long-term management of Cousin, the population steadily recovered to around 300- 360 birds. Given the vulnerability of one small island in the Indian Ocean, the possibility of establishing the species on additional islands had been proposed as a priority conservation measure. This paper describes the successful translocation of 29 Seychelles Warblers from Cousin to Aride, summarizes the ecological studies carried out prior to, during and after the translocation and documents the subsequent establishment of the new population. It is considered that the Seychelles Warbler will soon no longer be a globally threatened species.

This 11-year longitudinal study models the trajectories of depressive symptoms among approximately 550 females and males raised in divorced and nondivorced families in the rural Midwest. Using multilevel analyses, we demonstrate that, first, depressive symptoms changed according to a curvilinear pattern, especially for females; they increased during early to midadolescence and then declined in late adolescence to young adulthood. Second, compared with males, females experienced a greater number of depressive symptoms in adolescence and early adulthood. Third, children who experienced parental divorce by age 15 manifested a sharper increase in depressive symptoms compared to those from nondivorced families. Fourth, stressful life events children experienced shortly after parental divorce mediated the effect of parental divorce on depressive symptoms. Fifth and finally, time-varying stressful life events, particularly those related to relationship and personal loss, were significantly associated with the trajectories of depressive symptoms.During the past several years, support for this research has come from multiple sources including the National Institute of Mental Health (MH00567, MH19734, MH43270, MH48165, MH51361), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA05347), the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health (MCJ-109572), the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Adolescent Development among Youth in High-Risk Settings, the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station (Project No. 3320), and the California Agriculture Experiment Station (CA-D*-HCD-6092-H).

Given a hyperbolic invariant set of a diffeomorphism on a surface, it is proved that, if the holonomies are sufficiently smooth, then the diffeomorphism on the hyperbolic invariant set is rigid in the sense that it is C$^{1+}$ conjugate to a hyperbolic affine model.

We construct a Teichmüller space for the C^{1+}-conjugacy classes of hyperbolic dynamical systems on surfaces. After introducing the notion of an HR structure which associates an affine structure with each of the stable and unstable laminations, we show that there is a one-to-one correspondence between these HR structures and the C^{1+}-conjugacy classes. As part of the proof we construct a canonical representative dynamical system for each HR structure. This has the smoothest holonomies of any representative of the corresponding C^{1+}-conjugacy class. Finally, we introduce solenoid functions and show that they provide a good Teichmüller space.

Thisstudy investigated the correlates of childhood depressive symptoms in an African American sample. We included processes that are likely to operate for all children, regardless of race or ethnicity, as well as events and circumstances that are largely unique to children of color. These various constructs were assessed at both the individual and community level. The analyses consisted of hierarchical linear modeling with a sample of 810 African American families living in Iowa and Georgia. Three individual-level variables were associated with childhood depressive symptoms: uninvolved parenting, racial discrimination, and criminal victimization. At the community level, prevalence of both discrimination and criminal victimization were positively related and community ethnic identification was negatively related to depressive symptoms. Further, there was evidence that community ethnic identification and neighborhood poverty serve to moderate the relationship between criminal victimization and depressive symptoms. Overall, the findings underscore the importance of considering factors unique to the everyday lives of the cultural group that is the focus of study, while demonstrating the dangers of a “one model fits all” approach to studying children of color.

Hyperbolic invariant sets Λ of C1+γ diffeomorphisms where either the stable or unstable leaves are 1-dimensional are considered in this paper. Under the assumption that the Λ has local product structure, the authors prove that the holonomies between the 1-dimensional leaves are C1+α for some 0 < α < 1.