Mindful Parenting, Parenting Cognitions, and Parent-Youth Communication: Bidirectional Linkages and Mediational Processes

Objectives: Mindful parenting and parenting cognitions likely have important linkages to each other and to parent-child communication, but these linkages have not been tested. In this article, we test the bidirectional linkages between mindful parenting and parenting cognitions (sense of competence, parent-centered attributions) and the underlying mediational processes that link them to parent-child communication (parental solicitation and youth disclosure). Methods: Longitudinal, autoregressive cross-lagged models were run within a longitudinal sample of rural and suburban early adolescents and their mothers (n = 421; mean adolescent age = 12.14, 46% male, 73% white). Results: Significant bidirectional linkages were found between mindful parenting and parenting cognitions across Time 1 and Time 2. Greater mindful parenting at Time 1 was associated with more positive parenting cognitions (e.g., greater perceptions of parental competence and fewer negative parent-centered attributions or self-blame) at Time 2. More positive parenting cognitions at Time 1 were also associated with greater levels of mindful parenting at Time 2. Mindful parenting at Time 2 mediated the association between parenting cognitions (both parent-centered attributions and sense of competence) at Time 1 and parental solicitation at Time 3. Conclusions: Mindful parenting and parenting cognitions influence each other over time. Parenting cognitions can affect parental solicitation via increases in mindful parenting. The discussion focuses on potential underlying processes

Asymptotic Freedom for Non-Relativistic Confinement

Some aspects of asymptotic freedom are discussed in the context of a simple two-particle non-relativisitic confining potential model. In this model asymptotic freedom follows from the similarity of the free-particle and bound state radial wave functions at small distances and for the same angular momentum and the same large energy. This similarity, which can be understood using simple quantum mechanical arguments, can be used to show that the exact response function approaches that obtained when final state interactions are ignored. A method of calculating corrections to this limit is given and explicit examples are given for the case of the harmonic oscillator.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, RevTex

Recent African derivation of Chrysomya putoria from C. chloropyga and mitochondrial DNA paraphyly of cytochrome oxidase subunit one in blowflies of forensic importance

Chrysomya chloropyga (Wiedemann) and C. putoria (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) are closely related Afrotropical blowflies that breed in carrion and latrines, reaching high density in association with humans and spreading to other continents. In some cases of human death, Chyrsomya specimens provide forensic clues. Because the immature stages of such flies are often difficult to identify taxonomically, it is useful to develop DNA-based tests for specimen identification. Therefore we attempted to distinguish between C. chloropyga and C. putoria using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence data from a 593-bp region of the gene for cytochrome oxidase subunit one (COI). Twelve specimens from each species yielded a total of five haplotypes, none being unique to C. putoria. Therefore it was not possible to distinguish between the two species using this locus. Maximum parsimony analysis indicated paraphyletic C. chloropyga mtDNA with C. putoria nested therein. Based on these and previously published data, we infer that C. putoria diverged very recently from C. chloropyga

Probing Lorentz and CPT violation with space-based experiments

Space-based experiments offer sensitivity to numerous unmeasured effects involving Lorentz and CPT violation. We provide a classification of clock sensitivities and present explicit expressions for time variations arising in such experiments from nonzero coefficients in the Lorentz- and CPT-violating Standard-Model Extension.Comment: 15 page

The First Magnetic Fields

We review current ideas on the origin of galactic and extragalactic magnetic fields. We begin by summarizing observations of magnetic fields at cosmological redshifts and on cosmological scales. These observations translate into constraints on the strength and scale magnetic fields must have during the early stages of galaxy formation in order to seed the galactic dynamo. We examine mechanisms for the generation of magnetic fields that operate prior during inflation and during subsequent phase transitions such as electroweak symmetry breaking and the quark-hadron phase transition. The implications of strong primordial magnetic fields for the reionization epoch as well as the first generation of stars is discussed in detail. The exotic, early-Universe mechanisms are contrasted with astrophysical processes that generate fields after recombination. For example, a Biermann-type battery can operate in a proto-galaxy during the early stages of structure formation. Moreover, magnetic fields in either an early generation of stars or active galactic nuclei can be dispersed into the intergalactic medium.Comment: Accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews. Pdf can be also downloaded from http://canopus.cnu.ac.kr/ryu/cosmic-mag1.pd

Negative Parity 70-plet Baryon Masses in the 1/Nc Expansion

The masses of the negative parity SU(6) 70-plet baryons are analyzed in the 1/Nc expansion to order 1/Nc and to first order in SU(3) breaking. At this level of precision there are twenty predictions. Among them there are the well known Gell-Mann Okubo and equal spacing relations, and four new relations involving SU(3) breaking splittings in different SU(3) multiplets. Although the breaking of SU(6) symmetry occurs at zeroth order in 1/Nc, it turns out to be small. The dominant source of the breaking is the hyperfine interaction which is of order 1/Nc. The spin-orbit interaction, of zeroth order in 1/Nc, is entirely fixed by the splitting between the singlet states Lambda(1405) and Lambda(1520), and the spin-orbit puzzle is solved by the presence of other zeroth order operators involving flavor exchange.Comment: 31 pages, 3 figure

Panspermia, Past and Present: Astrophysical and Biophysical Conditions for the Dissemination of Life in Space

Astronomically, there are viable mechanisms for distributing organic material throughout the Milky Way. Biologically, the destructive effects of ultraviolet light and cosmic rays means that the majority of organisms arrive broken and dead on a new world. The likelihood of conventional forms of panspermia must therefore be considered low. However, the information content of dam-aged biological molecules might serve to seed new life (necropanspermia).Comment: Accepted for publication in Space Science Review

Lorentz and CPT Violation in Neutrinos

A general formalism is presented for violations of Lorentz and CPT symmetry in the neutrino sector. The effective hamiltonian for neutrino propagation in the presence of Lorentz and CPT violation is derived, and its properties are studied. Possible definitive signals in existing and future neutrino-oscillation experiments are discussed. Among the predictions are direction-dependent effects, including neutrino-antineutrino mixing, sidereal and annual variations, and compass asymmetries. Other consequences of Lorentz and CPT violation involve unconventional energy dependences in oscillation lengths and mixing angles. A variety of simple models both with and without neutrino masses are developed to illustrate key physical effects. The attainable sensitivities to coefficients for Lorentz violation in the Standard-Model Extension are estimated for various types of experiments. Many experiments have potential sensitivity to Planck-suppressed effects, comparable to the best tests in other sectors. The lack of existing experimental constraints, the wide range of available coefficient space, and the variety of novel effects imply that some or perhaps even all of the existing data on neutrino oscillations might be due to Lorentz and CPT violation.Comment: 25 pages REVTe

Multiple small-effect alleles of Indica origin enhance high iron-associated stress tolerance in rice under field conditions in west Africa

Open Access Journal; Published online: 15 Jan 2021Understanding the genetics of field-based tolerance to high iron-associated (HIA) stress in rice can accelerate the development of new varieties with enhanced yield performance in West African lowland ecosystems. To date, few field-based studies have been undertaken to rigorously evaluate rice yield performance under HIA stress conditions. In this study, two NERICA × O. sativa bi-parental rice populations and one O.sativa diversity panel consisting of 296 rice accessions were evaluated for grain yield and leaf bronzing symptoms over multiple years in four West African HIA stress and control sites. Mapping of these traits identified a large number of QTLs and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with stress tolerance in the field. Favorable alleles associated with tolerance to high levels of iron in anaerobic rice soils were rare and almost exclusively derived from the indica subpopulation, including the most favorable alleles identified in NERICA varieties. These findings highlight the complex genetic architecture underlying rice response to HIA stress and suggest that a recurrent selection program focusing on an expanded indica genepool could be productively used in combination with genomic selection to increase the efficiency of selection in breeding programs designed to enhance tolerance to this prevalent abiotic stress in West Africa