Science Fairs: Factors Involved in Participation and Winning

This study was an attempt to identify some factors involved in the participation and winning in the Northeast Iowa Science Fair

Parental psychological control dimensions: Connections with Russian preschoolers\u27 physical and relational aggression

Parental psychological control generally consists of overinvolved/protective and critical/rejecting elements, both being linked to children\u27s psychosocial maladjustment. The critical/rejecting element is multidimensional in nature, and few studies have explored this conceptual fullness. It is possible that some dimensions, if they can be statistically differentiated, are uniquely tied to various child behaviors. This may help resolve some of the inconsistency apparent across studies, such as studies of relational aggression. Accordingly, we examined the association between parental psychological control and childhood physical and relational aggression using a dimensional approach. Participants were 204 Russian preschoolers and their parents. The results revealed that dimensions of psychosocial control (i.e., shaming/disappointment, constraining verbal expressions, invalidating feelings, love withdrawal, and guilt induction) could be statistically differentiated, even though most dimensions tended to be significantly correlated. Furthermore, all dimensions, except for invalidating feelings, were significantly associated with childhood aggression, but predominantly in same-gender parent-child dyads. © 2012 Elsevier Inc.

Correlates of sociometric status in Russian preschoolers: Aggression, victimization, and sociability

© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. Few studies have assessed behavioral correlates of preschool children\u27s peer sociometric status in cultures outside North America. This study focuses on 221 Russian preschoolers (108 boys, 113 girls). Correlates included physical and relational forms of aggression/victimization and sociable behavior. Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) established that study instruments originally developed with U.S. preschoolers worked well in Russia. Findings in regard to aggression, sociability, and victimization were generally consistent with previous research with American and Italian preschoolers, particularly in regard to controversial status children. Our findings further challenge the notion that controversial children are consistently savvy in their social interactions. They and rejected children were most likely to be physically and relationally victimized by their peers

Marital satisfaction and depressive symptoms in China

Although there is substantial evidence that low marital satisfaction is a significant risk factor for depression, little research has examined this relationship in cultures outside of the U.S. and Europe. The validity of the marital discord model of depression in Chinese culture was tested by studying 391 couples living in Beijing and Hangzhou, China. Results of structural equation modeling using an actor-partner interdependence model strategy indicated that husbands\u27 and wives\u27 marital satisfaction was significantly predictive of their own depressive symptoms. In addition, wives\u27 marital satisfaction significantly predicted husbands\u27 depressive symptoms. These results provide evidence that the marital discord model of depression is useful in understanding the role of marital dissatisfaction as a risk factor for depressive symptoms in collectivistic societies, such as China. © 2013 American Psychological Association

Overt and relational aggression in Russian nursery-school-age children: parenting style and marital linkages.

Maternal and paternal parenting styles and marital interactions linked to childhood aggressive behavior as described in Western psychological literature were measured in an ethnic Russian sample of 207 families of nursery-school-age children. Results corroborated and extended findings from Western samples. Maternal and paternal coercion, lack of responsiveness, and psychological control (for mothers only) were significantly correlated with children\u27s overt aggression with peers. Less responsiveness (for mothers and fathers) and maternal coercion positively correlated with relational aggression. Some of these associations differed for boys versus girls. Marital conflict was also linked to more overt and relational aggression for boys. When entered into the same statistical model, more marital conflict (for boys only), more maternal coercion, and less paternal responsiveness were found to be the most important contributors to overt and relational aggression in younger Russian children

Two Higgs doublet dynamics at the electroweak phase transition: a non-perturbative study

Using a three-dimensional (3d) effective field theory and non-perturbative lattice simulations, we study the MSSM electroweak phase transition with two dynamical Higgs doublets. We first carry out a general analysis of spontaneous CP violation in 3d two Higgs doublet models, finding that this part of the parameter space is well separated from that corresponding to the physical MSSM. We then choose physical parameter values with explicit CP violation and a light right-handed stop, and determine the strength of the phase transition. We find a transition somewhat stronger than in 2-loop perturbation theory, leading to the conclusion that from the point of view of the non-equilibrium constraint, MSSM electroweak baryogenesis can be allowed even for a Higgs mass mH \approx 115 GeV. We also find that small values of the mass parameter mA (\lsim 120 GeV), which would relax the experimental constraint on mH, do not weaken the transition noticeably for a light enough stop. Finally we determine the properties of the phase boundary.Comment: 56 pages, 16 figures; small clarifications added, concerning e.g. Higgs mass bounds; to appear in NP

Anti-müllerian hormone is not associated with cardiometabolic risk factors in adolescent females

<p>Objectives: Epidemiological evidence for associations of Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) with cardiometabolic risk factors is lacking. Existing evidence comes from small studies in select adult populations, and findings are conflicting. We aimed to assess whether AMH is associated with cardiometabolic risk factors in a general population of adolescent females.</p> <p>Methods: AMH, fasting insulin, glucose, HDLc, LDLc, triglycerides and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured at a mean age 15.5 years in 1,308 female participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Multivariable linear regression was used to examine associations of AMH with these cardiometabolic outcomes.</p> <p>Results: AMH values ranged from 0.16–35.84 ng/ml and median AMH was 3.57 ng/ml (IQR: 2.41, 5.49). For females classified as post-pubertal (n = 848) at the time of assessment median (IQR) AMH was 3.81 ng/ml (2.55, 5.82) compared with 3.25 ng/ml (2.23, 5.05) in those classed as early pubertal (n = 460, P≤0.001). After adjusting for birth weight, gestational age, pubertal stage, age, ethnicity, socioeconomic position, adiposity and use of hormonal contraceptives, there were no associations with any of the cardiometabolic outcomes. For example fasting insulin changed by 0% per doubling of AMH (95%CI: −3%,+2%) p = 0.70, with identical results if HOMA-IR was used. Results were similar after additional adjustment for smoking, physical activity and age at menarche, after exclusion of 3% of females with the highest AMH values, after excluding those that had not started menarche and after excluding those using hormonal contraceptives.</p> <p>Conclusion: Our results suggest that in healthy adolescent females, AMH is not associated with cardiometabolic risk factors.</p&gt

Criminal and Noncriminal Psychopathy: The Devil is in the Detail

Brooks, NS ORCiD: 0000-0003-1784-099XPsychopathy is prevalent and problematic in criminal populations, but is also found to be present in noncriminal populations. In 1992, Robert Hare declared that psychopaths may also “be found in the boardroom”, which has since been followed by an interest in the issue of noncriminal, or even successful, psychopathy. In this chapter, the paradox of criminal and noncriminal psychopathy is discussed with specific attention given to the similarities and differences that account for psychopathic personality across contexts. That psychopathy is a condition typified by a constellation of traits and behaviours requires wider research across diverse populations, and thus the streams of research related to criminal and noncriminal psychopathy are presented and the implications of these contrasting streams are explored

Universal Rights and Wrongs

This paper argues for the important role of customers as a source of competitive advantage and firm growth, an issue which has been largely neglected in the resource-based view of the firm. It conceptualizes Penrose’s (1959) notion of an ‘inside track’ and illustrates how in-depth knowledge about established customers combines with joint problem-solving activities and the rapid assimilation of new and previously unexploited skills and resources. It is suggested that the inside track represents a distinct and perhaps underestimated way of generating rents and securing long-term growth. This also implies that the sources of sustainable competitive advantage in important respects can be sought in idiosyncratic interfirm relationships rather than within the firm itself