The featured article introduces a much-needed theoretical framework for developing a dual-process model of life history calibration. This model accounts for the counterbalancing effects of individual energetic stresses and extrinsic mortality threats of the environment. This framework also reinstates resource availability – a key determinant of energetic conditions – into life history research, resolving its previous exclusion due to similar countervailing influences relative to extrinsic mortality threats.

Early deprivation holds far-reaching implications for academic performance in adolescence. Yet, the implicated cascading mechanisms remain under-delineated, and little is known about why children may display diverse patterns of cognitive development. To address such gaps, we leveraged long-term longitudinal data derived from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (n = 2,085). Results indicated that early deprivation (age 3, caregivers’ reports and observers’ ratings; controlling for early threat and unpredictability) was negatively associated with adolescent academic performance (age 15, adolescents’ reports) indirectly through a negative association with cognitive ability in middle childhood (age 9, standardized tests). Furthermore, such an indirect effect was less pronounced among children with higher (versus lower) negative emotionality (age 1, mothers’ ratings), given that the negative link between early deprivation and subsequent cognitive ability was weaker among children with higher (versus lower) negative emotionality. Breaking down cognitive ability into sub-components (i.e., working memory, language ability, reading comprehension, and problem-solving), both language ability and applied problem-solving were involved in the deprivation-emotionality interaction. These findings highlight the critical role of cognitive ability in accounting for the long-term academic consequences of early deprivation and the key role of negative emotionality in shaping heterogeneity in such pathways.

Research on first language acquisition has shown that children initially approach word recognition analytically and gradually shift to holistic processing as their reading experience increases, as evidenced by a reduction and eventual disappearance of the word length effect in word recognition. The present study aimed to investigate visual word recognition strategies among non-native speakers of English, specifically examining whether these speakers recognize words analytically or holistically and whether their first language influences their recognition strategies. The study tested native and non-native speakers of English with Chinese or Latin-script language backgrounds on 160 English words and 160 nonwords, ranging from 4 to 8 letters in length. The results indicated that Chinese ESL speakers exhibited a positive length effect, showing slower response times to longer words, in contrast to native English speakers, who demonstrated a reversed length effect, and to the Latin-script group, who exhibited no significant length effect. These findings suggest that non-native speakers are more likely to adopt an analytic word recognition strategy when the writing systems of their first and second languages differ. Conversely, same-script second language learners appear able to transfer holistic word recognition strategies from their first language to English.

Firms adopt different strategies to achieve sustained profitable growth. We argue that the success of sustained profitable growth relies on the alignment between a firm's prior and subsequent strategy. This study views a firm's prior strategy, i.e., growth-oriented vs profit-oriented, as a primary driver of future sustained profitable growth. We adopt the resource-based view to understand the types of resources required for these two strategies. We argue that to achieve sustained profitable growth, growth-oriented firms need to enhance their firm-specific advantages by developing valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable resources such as technology and brand. In comparison, profit-oriented firms must identify versatile resources to capture growth opportunities and manage growth by successfully replicating their profitable operations. Low turnover in senior management could help profit-oriented firms achieve this goal. We find support for the arguments in a sample of 3,802 listed firms worldwide from 1992 to 2019.

Euwallacea interjectus, a recently discovered pest in poplar plantations, poses a significant economic threat due to its role in causing widespread tree mortality. This pest's cryptic behaviour has hindered research and control efforts, making laboratory rearing a valuable tool for studying its development and biology. We investigated the development period and biological characteristics of E. interjectus using artificial diets and fungal medium. Our findings revealed that the development time for eggs, larvae, and pupae averages approximately 6, 18, and 6 days, respectively. Notably, first and second instar larvae displayed peak moulting periods at 3.45 ± 0.64 SD and 7.92 ± 1.77 SD days, respectively. Furthermore, we measured head capsule widths of postmolt larvae, yielding values of 318.02 ± 7.38 SD μm for first-instar larvae, 403.01 ± 11.08 SD μm for second-instar larvae, and 549.54 ± 20.74 SD μm for third-instar larvae. Our research also uncovered a positive correlation between the number of progeny (eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults) and the mean length of the gallery system. Interestingly, the haplodiploid reproductive strategy did not significantly affect the number of offspring produced by the foundress. Additionally, we observed that foundresses displayed higher fecundity when subjected to nutrient-rich diets as compared to nutrient-poor diets. Our results will deepen our understanding of the biology of E. interjectus and provide criteria for larval instar classification. Additionally, managing nutrient availability within the colony could be considered a viable approach to regulating population size.

This study adopts the resource-based view (RBV) to explain the difference in firm profit and growth determinants. We argue that profit is driven more by valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable (VRIN) resources, and growth is driven more by versatile resources. Since some versatile resources, such as cash, are less firm-specific, the firm effect is more critical in determining profit than growth. We also expect that emerging market firms are more capable of utilizing versatile resources than developed market firms, and developed market firms are more capable of utilizing VRIN resources than emerging market firms. As a result, the determinants of firm performance also differ between emerging and developed markets. The study employs multilevel mixed models to decompose firm performance in US, Chinese, and global samples. The findings confirm that the firm effect is more important in influencing profit than growth, persisting across all three samples. The firm effect is also more important in influencing performance in developed countries than in emerging markets.

In “Risky choice framing: Task versions and a comparison of prospect theory and fuzzy-trace theory”, Kühberger and Tanner (2010) examined the impacts of removing stated zero/non-zero complements of risky options on the gain/loss framing effect. They also tested two rival theoretical explanations for this effect: prospect theory and fuzzy-trace theory. The present study aimed to examine the reliability and robustness of the evidence provided by Kühberger and Tanner by precise replication in Study 1. The original findings were reported for conditions in which the probability of the risky option was fixed, and the expected value of the two alternatives was approximately equivalent. The present study also aimed to examine the generality of their findings under additional conditions in which large, medium and small probabilities of the risky option were assigned, and the expected value of the certain or risky options differed. The main findings of Kühberger and Tanner (2010) were successfully replicated and confirmed under the original and additional conditions. The implications of these findings are discussed.

The subduction model of the Neo-Tethys during the Early Cretaceous has always been a controversial topic, and the scarcity of Early Cretaceous magmatic rocks in the southern part of the Gangdese batholith is the main cause of this debate. To address this issue, this article presents new zircon U–Pb chronology, zircon Hf isotope, whole-rock geochemistry and Sr–Nd isotope data for the Early Cretaceous quartz diorite dykes with adakite affinity in Liuqiong, Gongga. Zircon U–Pb dating of three samples yielded ages of c. 141–137 Ma, indicating that the Liuqiong quartz diorite was emplaced in the Early Cretaceous. The whole-rock geochemical analysis shows that the Liuqiong quartz diorite is enriched in large-ion lithophile elements (LILEs) and light rare-earth elements (LREEs) and is depleted in high-field-strength elements (HFSEs), which are related to slab subduction. Additionally, the Liuqiong quartz diorite has high SiO2, Al2O3 and Sr contents, high Sr/Y ratios and low heavy rare-earth element (HREE) and Y contents, which are compatible with typical adakite signatures. The initial 87Sr/86Sr values of the Liuqiong adakite range from 0.705617 to 0.705853, and the whole-rock ϵNd(t) values vary between +5.78 and +6.24. The zircon ϵHf(t) values vary from +11.5 to +16.4. Our results show that the Liuqiong adakite magma was derived from partial melting of the Neo-Tethyan oceanic plate (mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) + sediment + fluid), with some degree of subsequent peridotite interaction within the overlying mantle wedge. Combining regional data, we favour the interpretation that the Neo-Tethyan oceanic crust was subducted at a low angle beneath the Gangdese during the Early Cretaceous.

The rotational joint plays a vital role in the industrial and civil areas, which is typically utilized to achieve the relative rotation between the adjacent parts. Generally, structuring a conventional rotational joint involves the bulk actuators (e.g., motor and hydraulic cylinders) and complex structures, bringing difficulty for miniaturing the dimension. In this paper, a class of novel rotational mechanisms, which were constructed by the combination of compliant mechanisms (e.g., cartwheel pivot and multileaf pivot) and intelligent actuator (e.g., shape memory alloy (SMA) wire and spring), was proposed to reduce the complexity of the conventional rotational joints. As the case study, a novel SMA wire-driven flexural rotational mechanism (SDFRM), which is constructed by the cartwheel pivot and SMA wire, was developed to demonstrate the feasibility of combining the compliant mechanism and smart actuator. After establishing the static model of the cartwheel pivot and the thermal effect model of the SMA wire, the overall model of SDFRM was developed for the comprehensive performance analysis and the control system design. After that, the model validation and experiments were performed with the proposed prototype and control system. It can be seen from the experimental results that the proposed model can be validated within the error of 3.8%. In addition, the performance study on SDFRM indicates that the prototyped SDFRM system can track the given trajectories within the error of 0.2 mm in the workspace. As a result, the proposed concept was demonstrated as an effective way to reduce the dimension and weight of the conventional rotational joint.

In this study, we analysed the relationship between meteorological factors and the number of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The study period was from 12 April 2020 to 13 October 2020, and daily meteorological data and the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in each state of the United States were collected. Based on the number of COVID-19 patients in each state of the United States, we selected four states (California, Florida, New York, Texas) for analysis. One-way analysis of variance ( ANOVA), scatter plot analysis, correlation analysis and distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) analysis were used to analyse the relationship between meteorological factors and the number of patients with COVID-19. We found that the significant influencing factors of the number of COVID-19 cases differed among the four states. Specifically, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in California and New York was negatively correlated with AWMD (P < 0.01) and positively correlated with AQI, PM2.5 and TAVG (P < 0.01) but not significantly correlated with other factors. Florida was significantly correlated with TAVG (positive) (P < 0.01) but not significantly correlated with other factors. The number of COVID-19 cases in Texas was only significantly negatively associated with AWND (P < 0.01). The influence of temperature and PM2.5 on the spread of COVID-19 is not obvious. This study shows that when the wind speed was 2 m/s, it had a significant positive correlation with COVID-19 cases. The impact of meteorological factors on COVID-19 may be very complicated. It is necessary to further explore the relationship between meteorological factors and COVID-19. By exploring the influence of meteorological factors on COVID-19, we can help people to establish a more accurate early warning system.

Older parents in China rely heavily on their adult children for instrumental assistance. In different multi-child families, multiple offspring may co-operate in providing instrumental support to older parents in distinct ways in terms of how much support they provide on average and how much differentiation exists between them when they provide such support within a family. We aimed to identify different within-family patterns in relation to multiple offspring's instrumental support to an older parent in Chinese multi-child families, and to investigate potential predictors for different within-family patterns. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies (2016), we had a working sample of 5,790 older adults aged 60+ (mean = 68.54, standard deviation = 6.60). We employed latent profile analysis (LPA) to classify within-family patterns and multinomial logistic regression to investigate predictors. Our findings identified three within-family patterns: dissociated (59.10%), highly differentiated (29.60%) and united-filial (11.30%). Older parents in the highly differentiated families tended to be older, mothers, divorced/widowed and to have poorer physical health compared to their counterparts in the dissociated families. In contrast, the composition characteristics of multiple adult children played more important roles in determining the united-filial within-family pattern. The united-filial families were more likely to have fewer adult children, at least one adult daughter and at least one co-residing adult child.

The high overall plant-based diet index (PDI) is considered to protect against type 2 diabetes in the general population. However, whether the PDI affects gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) risk among pregnant women is still unclear. We evaluated the association between PDI and GDM risk based on a Chinese large prospective cohort – the Tongji Maternal and Child Health Cohort. Dietary data were collected at 13–28 weeks of pregnancy by a validated semi-quantitative FFQ. The PDI was obtained by assigning plant food groups positive scores while assigning animal food groups reverse scores. GDM was diagnosed by a 75 g 2-h oral glucose tolerance test at 24–28 weeks of gestation. Logistic regression models were fitted to estimate OR of GDM, with associated 95 % CI, comparing women in different PDI quartiles. Among the total 2099 participants, 169 (8·1 %) were diagnosed with GDM. The PDI ranged from 21·0 to 52·0 with a median of 36·0 (interquartile range (IQR) 33·0–39·0). After adjusting for social-demographic characteristics and lifestyle factors etc., the participants with the highest quartile of PDI were associated with 57 % reduced odds of GDM compared with women in the lowest quartile of PDI (adjusted OR 0·43; 95 % CI 0·24, 0·77; Pfor trend = 0·005). An IQR increment in PDI was associated with 29 % decreased odds of GDM (adjusted OR 0·71; 95 % CI 0·56, 0·90). Findings suggest that adopting a plant-based diet during pregnancy could reduce GDM risk among Chinese women, which may be valuable for dietary counselling during pregnancy.

The first case of 2019-nCoV pneumonia infection occurred in Wuhan, Hubei Province, South China Seafood Market in December 2019. As a group with a high probability of infection, health workers are faced with a certain degree of psychological challenges in the process of facing the epidemic. This study attempts to evaluate the impact of 2019-nCoV outbreak on the psychological state of Chinese health workers and to explore the influencing factors. During the period from 31 January 2020 to 4 February 2020, the ‘Questionnaire Star’ electronic questionnaire system was used to collect data. The 2019-nCoV impact questionnaire and The Impact of Event Scale (IES) were used to check the psychological status of health workers in China. A total of 442 valid data were collected in this study. Seventy-four (16.7%) male and 368 (83.3%) female individuals participated in this study. The average score of high arousal dimension was 5.15 (s.d. = 4.71), and the median score was 4.0 (IQR 2.0, 7.0). The average score of IES was 15.26 (s.d. = 11.23), and the median score was 13.5 (IQR 7.0, 21.0). Multiple regression analysis showed that there were critical statistical differences in high arousal scores among different gender groups (male 3.0 vs. female 5.0, P = 0.075). Whether being quarantined had significant statistical differences of IES scores (being quarantined 16.0 vs. not being quarantined 13.0, P = 0.021). The overall impact of the 2019-nCoV outbreak on health workers is at a mild level. Chinese health workers have good psychological coping ability in the face of public health emergencies.

Varicella is an acute respiratory infectious diseases, with high transmissibility and quick dissemination. In this study, an SEIR (susceptible-exposed-infected-recovered) dynamic model was established to explore the optimal prevention and control measures according to the epidemiological characteristics about varicella outbreak in a school in a central city of China. Berkeley Madonna 8.3.18 and Microsoft Office Excel 2010 software were employed for the model simulation and data management, respectively. The result showed that the simulated result of SEIR model agreed well with the reported data when β (infected rate) equal to 0.067. Models showed that the cumulative number of cases was only 13 when isolation adopted when the infected individuals were identified (assuming isolation rate was up to 100%); the cumulative number of cases was only two and the TAR (total attack rate) was 0.56% when the vaccination coefficient reached 50%. The cumulative number of cases did not change significantly with the change of efficiency of ventilation and disinfection, but the peak time was delayed; when δ (vaccination coefficient) = 0.1, m (ventilation efficiency) = 0.7 or δ = 0.2, m = 0.5 or δ = 0.3, m = 0.1 or δ = 0.4 and above, the cumulative number of cases would reduce to one case and TAR would reduce to 0.28% with combined interventions. Varicella outbreak in school could be controlled through strict isolation or vaccination singly; combined interventions have been adopted when the vaccination coefficient was low.

Women experience both physical and psychological changes during different phases of the menstrual cycle (MC), which can affect their decision making. The present study aims to investigate the impact of the MC on women’s preferences for conspicuous consumption. In three studies, women in the low-fertility phase were found to be more inclined toward conspicuous consumption, with the MC effect on conspicuous consumption being mediated by the extent of pride. We assumed that women in the low-fertility phase would feel less proud due to an evolutionary drive and that they would consume conspicuous products as a means of compensation. Meanwhile, women who were only children did not manifest such behavior. We infer that women from one-child families may have a greater sense of security and confidence, which buffers the mediating effect. This research contributes to both evolutionary psychology and marketing research and provides new insights for future studies.