We explore electoral explanations for U.S. governors’ willingness to commute death sentences in their state. Across descriptive tests and pre-registered regression specifications, we find little evidence that election timing or term limits affect either the probability of commuting death sentences or the proportion of such sentences governors might commute. However, we do find evidence that governors are more likely to commute sentences – and commute sentences for a higher proportion of defendants – during the “lame duck” period after their successor’s election but before their inauguration.

Canonical work argues that macropartisanship—the aggregate distribution of Democrats and Republicans in the country at a given time—is responsive to the economic and political environment. In other words, if times are good when Democrats are in charge (or bad when Republicans are in charge), more Americans will identify with the Democratic Party. We extend the pioneering work of MacKuen, Erikson, and Stimson (1989), who analyzed macropartisanship from 1953 through 1987, to 2021, assessing whether consumer sentiment and presidential approval still influence macropartisanship in an era of nationalized elections and affective polarization. We find that change has occurred. The effect of consumer sentiment on macropartisanship is no longer statistically distinguishable from zero, and we find evidence of “structural breaks” in the macropartisanship time series. Macropartisanship appears to have become less responsive to economic swings; approval-induced changes in macropartisanship have become more fleeting over time.

Women in Congress are highly effective legislators. Yet, if women are more likely than men to be interrupted during committee work, they may face a gender-related impediment. We examine speech patterns during more than 24,000 congressional committee hearings from 1994 to 2018 to determine whether women Members are more likely to be interrupted than men. We find that they are. This is especially true in Senate committees—where women are about 10% more likely to be interrupted. Furthermore, in hearings that discuss women’s issues, women are more than twice as likely to be interrupted than while discussing other issues. We see a similar pattern for rapid-fire “interruption clusters,” an aggressive form of interruption. We further consider a range of moderating factors, which yields little evidence that women change their communication strategy as they gain experience in Congress. We also find suggestive evidence that interruptions are driven by mixed-gender interactions.

Using data from nearly 5,000 votes cast by more than 400 judges in courts of last resort from all 50 states, we investigate whether there is a relationship between a state's judicial retention method and the likelihood that a judge votes to join a precedent-overturning majority. We find that relative to judges retained by institutions such as judicial commissions or state legislatures, those retained via either partisan or retention elections are significantly more likely to join majorities that overturn precedent. Most of this effect is due to behavior in high-profile cases that garner media attention. We find little evidence that an impending election moderates these effects. Finally, we find no evidence that judges retained via nonpartisan elections treat precedent differently than their institutionally retained colleagues.

We report on the EPICA Dronning Maud Land (East Antarctica) deep drilling operation. Starting with the scientific questions that led to the outline of the EPICA project, we introduce the setting of sister drillings at NorthGRIP and EPICA Dome C within the European ice-coring community. The progress of the drilling operation is described within the context of three parallel, deep-drilling operations, the problems that occurred and the solutions we developed. Modified procedures are described, such as the monitoring of penetration rate via cable weight rather than motor torque, and modifications to the system (e.g. closing the openings at the lower end of the outer barrel to reduce the risk of immersing the drill in highly concentrated chip suspension). Parameters of the drilling (e.g. core-break force, cutter pitch, chips balance, liquid level, core production rate and piece number) are discussed. We also review the operational mode, particularly in the context of achieved core length and piece length, which have to be optimized for drilling efficiency and core quality respectively. We conclude with recommendations addressing the design of the chip-collection openings and strictly limiting the cable-load drop with respect to the load at the start of the run.

New dating confirms that people occupied the Australian continent before the earliest time inferred from conventional radiocarbon analysis. Many of the new ages were obtained by accelerator mass spectrometry 14C dating after an acid–base–acid pretreatment with bulk combustion (ABA-BC) or after a newly developed acid–base–wet oxidation pretreatment with stepped combustion (ABOX-SC). The samples (charcoal) came from the earliest occupation levels of the Devil's Lair site in southwestern Western Australia. Initial occupation of this site was previously dated 35,000 14C yr B.P. Whereas the ABA-BC ages are indistinguishable from background beyond 42,000 14C yr B.P., the ABOX-SC ages are in stratigraphic order to ∼55,000 14C yr B.P. The ABOX-SC chronology suggests that people were in the area by 48,000 cal yr B.P. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), electron spin resonance (ESR) ages, U-series dating of flowstones, and 14C dating of emu eggshell carbonate are in agreement with the ABOX-SC 14C chronology. These results, based on four independent techniques, reinforce arguments for early colonization of the Australian continent.

Nine sites of cogongrass were included in a study of genotypic diversity and spread dynamics at the point of introduction and its adjacent areas in the southern United States. Clones evaluated with two primer pairs yielded a total of 137 amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) loci of which 102 (74.4%) were polymorphic. Genetic diversity was measured as the percentage of polymorphic, Shannon's information index, Nei's gene diversity, and panmictic heterozygosity. Nei's gene diversity (HS) across all nine sites was estimated to be 0.11 and within site gene diversity ranged from 0.06 to 0.16. Bayesian estimate of gene diversity and Shannon's information index were higher (0.17 and 0.17, respectively). The samples from the point of introduction (Pi) had the lowest genetic diversity for all types of estimates. Within site variance accounted for 56% of the total variation and among site variance 44% (P < 0.05). Differentiation among sites was assessed using F ST. The greatest difference was found between the Pi and the others. No relationship was found between genetic and geographic distances. Principal component analysis as well as cluster analysis separated individuals into three main clusters. The Pi formed a separate subcluster. Gene flow (Nm), inferred from Φ-statistics describing the genetic differentiation between pairs of sites ranged from 0.6 to 5.55. The lack of significant relationship between gene flow and geographic distance as well as genetic and geographic distances suggests that the invasion dynamics of cogongrass into the southern United States is primarily through anthropogenic activities and to the lesser extent through natural forces.

Herbicide soil/solution distribution coefficients (Kd) are used in mathematical models to predict the movement of herbicides in soil and groundwater. Herbicides bind to various soil constituents to differing degrees. The universal soil colloid that binds most herbicides is organic matter (OM), however clay minerals (CM) and metallic hydrous oxides are more retentive for cationic, phosphoric, and arsenic acid compounds. Weakly basic herbicides bind to both organic and inorganic soil colloids. The soil organic carbon (OC) affinity coefficient (Koc) has become a common parameter for comparing herbicide binding in soil; however, because OM and OC determinations vary greatly between methods and laboratories, Koc values may vary greatly. This proposal discusses this issue and offers suggestions for obtaining the most accurate Kd, Freundlich constant (Kf), and Koc values for herbicides listed in the WSSA Herbicide Handbook and Supplement.

In North America, terrestrial records of biodiversity and climate change that span Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 are rare. Where found, they provide insight into how the coupling of the ocean–atmosphere system is manifested in biotic and environmental records and how the biosphere responds to climate change. In 2010–2011, construction at Ziegler Reservoir near Snowmass Village, Colorado (USA) revealed a nearly continuous, lacustrine/wetland sedimentary sequence that preserved evidence of past plant communities between ~140 and 55 ka, including all of MIS 5. At an elevation of 2705 m, the Ziegler Reservoir fossil site also contained thousands of well-preserved bones of late Pleistocene megafauna, including mastodons, mammoths, ground sloths, horses, camels, deer, bison, black bear, coyotes, and bighorn sheep. In addition, the site contained more than 26,000 bones from at least 30 species of small animals including salamanders, otters, muskrats, minks, rabbits, beavers, frogs, lizards, snakes, fish, and birds. The combination of macro- and micro-vertebrates, invertebrates, terrestrial and aquatic plant macrofossils, a detailed pollen record, and a robust, directly dated stratigraphic framework shows that high-elevation ecosystems in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado are climatically sensitive and varied dramatically throughout MIS 5.

Sediment cores from three lakes in the Upper Kolyma region, northeast Russia, provide the first well-dated continuous record of late Quaternary vegetation change from far southwestern Beringia. The oldest pollen zone, tentatively assigned to the Karginsk (mid-Wisconsinan) Interstade, indicates an Artemisia shrub tundra with Pinus pumila, Betula, and Alnus at mid- to low elevations. With the onset of the Sartan (late Wisconsinan) Stade, Pinus disappeared, probably indicating severely cold, dry winters and cool summers. As conditions deteriorated further, an Artemisia -Gramineae tundra developed. Selaginella rupestris and minor herb taxa indicate the presence of poor soils and disturbed ground. This herb tundra was replaced by a short-lived (< 1000 yr) Betula-Alnus shrub tundra followed by the rapid establishment of a Larix dahurica forest with a Betula exilis-ericales-lichen understory. Populus suaveolens and Chosenia may have formed limited hardwood gallery forests at this time. Modern vegetation associations probably developed during the early Holocene with the arrival of Pinus pumila ca. 9000 yr B.P. This shrub became important in the forest understory and, with B. exilis, formed a belt of shrub tundra beyond altitudinal treeline. Comparison of the Upper Kolyma and Alaskan pollen records indicates that important differences in vegetation types and timing of vegetation change occurred across Beringia during the late Quaternary.

Money comes from a variety of sources in American elections. It is unclear however whether voters’ knowledge about a candidate's funding portfolio influences how that candidate is evaluated. We present the results of two survey experiments in which we randomly assigned the composition of donors from various categories to a hypothetical candidate. We find that on average a candidate described as having received a majority of his contributions from individuals is evaluated more highly than one who received a majority of his contributions from interest groups. We also find that when it comes to self-financing a campaign, using private sector money is more beneficial to candidates than using inherited money, but only when the candidate is a member of the same party as the voter. Our results have implications for campaign strategy, academic debates concerning the effect of money on elections, and policy debates concerning the effects of increased campaign finance disclosure.

Nursing home residents are at risk for acquiring and transmitting MDROs. A serial point-prevalence study of 605 residents in 3 facilities using random sampling found MDRO colonization in 45% of residents: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA, 26%); extended-spectrum β-lactamase–producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL, 17%); vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus spp. (VRE, 16%); carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE, 1%). MDRO colonization was associated with history of MDRO, care needs, incontinence, and catheters.

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2016;1485–1488

We present an interesting and rare case of traumatic Gerbode ventricular septal defect and complete heart block. The multimodality images illustrate the diagnosis well. This case is an excellent demonstration of the diagnostic utility of multimodality imaging.

When the 113th Congress convened in January 2013, women occupied only 17.9% of the 435 seats in the U.S. House, ranking the United States 80th globally in terms of the percentage of women serving in the lower legislative assembly. The underrepresentation of women is particularly puzzling, as political scientists since the 1990s have consistently shown that women candidates are not of demonstrably less quality than men on average (see Fulton 2012, 2014; Fulton et al. 2006; Lawless and Fox 2010), do not suffer from a gender-related funding disadvantage (Berch 1996; Burrell 2008; Gaddie and Bullock 1995; Fox 2010; Herrick 1995, 1996), and do about as well as men at the polls, accounting for differences in incumbency status (Fox 2010; Smith and Fox 2001).

We investigate whether Maine and Arizona's Clean Elections laws, which provide public funding for state legislative candidates, are responsible for producing a new cadre of legislators who are unusually ideologically extreme. We find that there is essentially no important difference in the legislative voting behavior of “clean” funded legislators and traditionally funded ones in either Arizona or Maine: those who are financed by private donors are no more or less ideologically extreme than those who are supported by the state. This finding calls into question some concerns about the effects on polarization of money generally and public funding in particular.

Premorbid risk for major depressive disorder (MDD) and predictors of an earlier onset and recurrent course were examined in two studies in a large, community-based sample of parents and offspring, prospectively assessed from late childhood into adulthood. In Study 1 (N = 2,764 offspring and their parents), parental psychiatric status, offspring personality at age 11, and age 11 offspring internalizing and externalizing symptoms predicted the subsequent development of MDD, as did poor quality parent–child relationships, poor academic functioning, early pubertal development, and childhood maltreatment by age 11. Parental MDD and adult antisocial behavior, offspring negative emotionality and disconstraint, externalizing symptoms, and childhood maltreatment predicted an earlier onset of MDD, after accounting for course; lower positive emotionality, trait anxiety, and childhood maltreatment predicted recurrent MDD, after accounting for age of onset. In Study 2 (N = 7,146), we examined molecular genetic risk for MDD by extending recent reports of associations with glutamatergic system genes. We failed to confirm associations with MDD using either individual single nucleotide polymorphism based tests or gene-based analyses. Overall, results speak to the pervasiveness of risk for MDD, as well as specific risk for early onset MDD; risk for recurrent MDD appears to be largely a function of its often earlier onset.