A theory of discrimination which assumes that subjects compare psychological values evoked by a stimulus to a subjective referent is proposed. Momentary differences between psychological values for the stimulus and the referent are accumulated over time until one or the other of two response thresholds is first exceeded. The theory is analyzed as a random walk bounded between two absorbing barriers. A general solution to response conditioned expected response times is computed and the important role played by the moment generating function (mgf) for increments to the random walk is examined. From considerations of the mgf it is shown that unlike other random walk models [Stone, 1960; Laming, 1968] the present theory does not imply that response conditioned mean correct and error times must be equal. For two fixed stimuli and a fixed referent it is shown that by controlling values of response thresholds, subjects can produce Receiver Operating Characteristics similar or identical to those predicted by Signal Detection Theory, High Threshold Theory, or Low Threshold Theory.

Tropical drylands are characterized by extreme environmental conditions that, coupled with anthropogenic habitat degradation, can limit the occurrence of native species. Species that are most sensitive to these pressures may be prone to disappear in the context of climate change. In this study, we evaluated the influence of environmental and anthropogenic variables on the occurrence of large mammals and birds at the Tatacoa Desert, an arid region in central Colombia. We tested the relationship between the magnitude of the species’ responses to environmental, human-related variables and to body mass, and percentage of carnivory. Overall, we found a positive association between forest cover and the occupancy of the largest mammals (> 8kg), negative associations between solar radiation and human footprint with individual species occupancy, and a positive association of species occupancy with distance to touristic sites. Our results suggest that the largest and/or more carnivore species may be affected positively by forest cover and negatively by intense solar radiation highlighting the consequences of the increasing process of desertification on large mammals and birds at the upper Magdalena River basin of Colombia under the current scenario of global climate change.

Irritability is a transdiagnostic symptom dimension in developmental psychopathology, closely related to the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) construct of frustrative nonreward. Consistent with the RDoC framework and calls for transdiagnostic, developmentally-sensitive assessment methods, we report data from a smartphone-based, naturalistic ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study of irritability. We assessed 109 children and adolescents (Mage = 12.55 years; 75.20% male) encompassing several diagnostic groups – disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety disorders (ANX), healthy volunteers (HV). The participants rated symptoms three times per day for 1 week. Compliance with the EMA protocol was high. As tested using multilevel modeling, EMA ratings of irritability were strongly and consistently associated with in-clinic, gold-standard measures of irritability. Further, EMA ratings of irritability were significantly related to subjective frustration during a laboratory task eliciting frustrative nonreward. Irritability levels exhibited an expected graduated pattern across diagnostic groups, and the different EMA items measuring irritability were significantly associated with one another within all groups, supporting the transdiagnostic phenomenology of irritability. Additional analyses utilized EMA ratings of anxiety as a comparison with respect to convergent validity and transdiagnostic phenomenology. The results support new measurement tools that can be used in future studies of irritability and frustrative nonreward.

Demographic and societal changes make it more and more indispensable to protect against the risk of care costs surpassing a person’s financial means. Nevertheless, only few governments have acted to create public funding systems that, if existent at all, usually only cover part of the expenses for elder care. Long-term care insurance (LTCI) is designed to fund basic care needs in later life, such as washing and dressing. Regardless of where individuals receive this support in old age, how it is funded is a growing issue. In many countries, people may augment their compulsory state system with private policies available from insurance companies.

In Germany, a well-established public system that underwent major reforms exists. From 2017 onwards, a completely new care definition and assessment process replaced the former ones. Two major changes constitute the reform: First, when evaluating the need for care, the former focus on estimating the length of time required for care was replaced by the determination of the degree of independence. Second, cognitive impairments will be acknowledged more adequately than in the past, where the focus was on physical abilities. Furthermore, the contribution to be paid by the care recipient in a nursing home will no longer be dependent on the severity of the care need.

In Germany, private LTC products used a combination of the social security definition, an ADL-based trigger and a dementia trigger until the end of 2016. Thus, the reform has repercussions for the local private insurance industry. What would happen to in-force business, how a new benefit trigger should look like, how old and new definition compare and how pricing rates can be derived were only some of the questions that had to be answered in advance.

The reform could point the way for future public schemes and private policies elsewhere. Which questions had to be answered and what issues had to be solved in advance, together with lessons learned during and shortly after the reform was undertaken, can serve as an accompaniment for the introduction or reform of public LTC schemes and for the local insurance industry in other countries.

Background: The impact of alcohol use disorders (AUD) on psychological treatments for depression or anxiety in primary care psychological treatment services is unknown. Aims: To establish levels of alcohol misuse in an Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) service, examine the impact of higher risk drinking on IAPT treatment outcomes and drop-out, and to inform good practice in working with alcohol misuse in IAPT services. Method: 3643 patients completed a brief questionnaire on alcohol use pre-treatment in addition to measures of depression, anxiety and functioning. Symptom and functioning measures were re-administered at all treatment sessions. Results: Severity of alcohol misuse was not associated with treatment outcomes, although those scoring eight or more on the AUDIT-C were more likely to drop out from treatment. Conclusions: IAPT services may be well placed to offer psychological therapies to patients with common mental disorders and comorbid AUD. Patients with AUD can have equivalent treatment outcomes to those without AUD, but some higher risk drinkers may find accessing IAPT treatment more difficult as they are more likely to drop out. Alcohol misuse on its own should not be used as an exclusion criterion from IAPT services. Recommendations are given as to how clinicians can: adjust their assessments to consider the appropriateness of IAPT treatment for patients that misuse alcohol, consider the potential impact of alcohol misuse on treatment, and improve engagement in treatment for higher risk drinkers.

Emerging CVD risk factors (e.g. HDL function and central haemodynamics) may account for residual CVD risk experienced by individuals who meet LDL-cholesterol and blood pressure (BP) targets. Recent evidence suggests that these emerging risk factors can be modified by polyphenol-rich interventions such as soya, but additional research is needed. This study was designed to investigate the effects of an isoflavone-containing soya protein isolate (delivering 25 and 50 g/d soya protein) on HDL function (i.e. ex vivo cholesterol efflux), macrovascular function and blood markers of CVD risk. Middle-aged adults (n 20; mean age=51·6 (sem 6·6) years) with moderately elevated brachial BP (mean systolic BP=129 (sem 9) mmHg; mean diastolic BP=82·5 (sem 8·4) mmHg) consumed 0 (control), 25 and 50 g/d soya protein in a randomised cross-over design. Soya and control powders were consumed for 6 weeks each with a 2-week compliance break between treatment periods. Blood samples and vascular function measures were obtained at baseline and following each supplementation period. Supplementation with 50 g/d soya protein significantly reduced brachial diastolic BP (−2·3 mmHg) compared with 25 g/d soya protein (Tukey-adjusted P=0·03) but not the control. Soya supplementation did not improve ex vivo cholesterol efflux, macrovascular function or other blood markers of CVD risk compared with the carbohydrate-matched control. Additional research is needed to clarify whether effects on these CVD risk factors depend on the relative health of participants and/or equol producing capacity.

Among pathogens shed by cattle, Escherichia coli O157 ranks highest in those causing human illness. To date, prevalence and risk factors for O157 shedding have been assessed in feedlot, but not dairy cattle. The study aimed to determine prevalence levels and risk factors for O157 atypical enteropathogenic E. coli (aEPEC) and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) shedding in dairy cattle. Dairy cattle (n = 899) within the first 21 days of lactation were sampled monthly over the course of 1 year, on three dry lot dairies surrounding Fort Collins, CO. During visits multiple factors were measured (disease history, pharmaceutical use, climate measures, etc.), and cattle faeces were collected and assessed for presence of O157 and virulence genes. Logistic regression analysis was performed using O157 outcomes and measured factors. Prevalence of O157 aEPEC was 3·7%, while EHEC was 3·0%. Many potential risk factors were highly correlated, and used to build separate multivariable models. An increase in humidity was positively associated with aEPEC, while fluid faeces and history of disease showed a negative association. Meanwhile, an increase in temperature and antibiotic treatment was positively associated with EHEC, while more days in milk, higher hygiene score and cow contact were negatively associated. These results may guide mitigation strategies that reduce O157 shedding, and contamination of the human food chain.

Few Presidents in American history established so complete and far-reaching a control over his party as did Woodrow Wilson during the first years of his tenure in the White House.* Indeed, before the end of his first term he had become almost the absolute master of his party, able to effect revolutionary changes in party policy without the previous knowledge and consent of Democratic leaders in Congress and the country. He attained this stature in part by his methods of public leadership—his bold representation of public opinion and his incomparable strategy in dealing with the legislative branch. He won this position of authority also through less obvious and more subtle means—a systematic use of the immense patronage at his command as an instrument by which to achieve effective and responsible party government. Confronted by no entrenched national party organization and no body of officeholders loyal to another man, he was able to build from the ground up and to weld the widely scattered and disparate Democratic forces into something approximating a national machine. Let us see how he used his power to mold the character of his party, and with what consequences.