Bullies in the Block Area: The Early Childhood Origins of Mean Behavior

Bullying can pose a serious threat to children's immediate and long-term health and well-being, and can have profound impacts on all children involved in bullying behaviors, whether as the one bullying others, the one being bullied, or the one witnessing bullying. At least some of the roots of bullying behaviors, and conversely the roots of positive pro-social skills, can likely be found in adverse and positive experiences during early childhood, yet the research literature on these connections is limited. The early childhood field lacks a coherent, theoretical model that identifies the factors contributing to "mean" or aggressive behavior in young children, and establishes the developmental link between this early behavior and later bullying behavior. This white paper summarizes the literature on seven key hypotheses about the roots of bullying behavior in early childhood experiences

Mapping Quality of Life in Nebraska: Migration Rates

KEY POINTS AND IMPLICATIONS Nebraska is a state that is not often viewed as affected significantly by mobility and migration. As a state, the net migration rate of 1.1 from 2015 to 2016 is fairly low compared to others like Florida (16.0) or Nevada (14.4). However, data from this report suggests that there is, in fact, substantial movement of people moving in and moving out; as well as pockets within the state where there is higher than average influx of both domestic and international migrants. In general, migration trends in the state mirror national trends of “rural flight” where people are moving out of the rural counties and moving into suburban or metropolitan areas. In fact, 69 of the 93 counties had a negative net migration. This is most likely due to greater economic opportunities associated with urban areas (Harris & Todaro, 1970). However, the population leaving is being offset by international migrants who do come to suburban and rural counties (e.g., Colfax, Dakota, Dawson). Thus, overall the state net migration rate has been minimal with a slight increase. Below are other key points of this fact sheet. • The foreign-born population is highest in the metropolitan counties, particularly in Douglas (48,909) and in Lancaster (21,888). However, the highest concentration of foreign-born is found in micropolitan areas with lower overall population (i.e., at least 10,000 but less than 50,000), such as Dakota, Dawson, and Hall. Most likely, specific industries (e.g., meatpacking plants, industrial plants) in these areas are attracting migrant workers. This is consistent with recent scholars’ recognition of the importance of micropolitan areas in economic and social revitalization of states (e.g., Cantrell, 2007). • The maps of overall net migration rates and domestic migration rates are almost identical. This suggests that domestic migration accounts for much of the population change compared to international migration. Nonetheless, caution must be used in interpreting this pattern. In fact, it may seem that Nebraska has few international migrants. However, international migrants are counted as domestic migrants when they moved within the state in the last 12 months. Thus, it is important to note that the numbers of international migrants are not similar to the numbers of the foreign-born population. • Counties with high numbers of international migrants, particularly the metropolitan areas in the southeast part of the state, also have high numbers of ethnic minorities (e.g., Douglas, Lancaster, Sarpy). Although there are migrants from all over the world who come to Nebraska, the numbers suggest that most of the migrants identify as ‘ethnic minorities’ or non-White (see Population Distribution by Race, Ethnicity, and Age by Taylor et al., 2017). • International migrants are a diverse group and come to Nebraska for different reasons, such as to work and/or to study. The numbers presented above also include refugees, individuals who have been forced to leave their country to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster. Approximately 5,415 refugees from FY 2000 to FY 2010, and 818 refugees in FY 2010 settled in Nebraska. Additionally, as the census does not ask for immigration status, the migration rates and foreign-born population may also include undocumented immigrants, foreign-born individuals who do not have a legal right to live or remain in the country. Overall, this report presents the migration rates and foreign-born population in Nebraska. Data and information in this report intend to inform policymakers and practitioners as they design guidelines and services that are sensitive to current migration trends and responsive to the characteristics of the population

A protocol for eliciting nonmaterial values through a cultural ecosystem services frame

Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology. Stakeholders\u27 nonmaterial desires, needs, and values often critically influence the success of conservation projects. These considerations are challenging to articulate and characterize, resulting in their limited uptake in management and policy. We devised an interview protocol designed to enhance understanding of cultural ecosystem services (CES). The protocol begins with discussion of ecosystem-related activities (e.g., recreation, hunting) and management and then addresses CES, prompting for values encompassing concepts identified in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) and explored in other CES research. We piloted the protocol in Hawaii and British Columbia. In each location, we interviewed 30 individuals from diverse backgrounds. We analyzed results from the 2 locations to determine the effectiveness of the interview protocol in elucidating nonmaterial values. The qualitative and spatial components of the protocol helped characterize cultural, social, and ethical values associated with ecosystems in multiple ways. Maps and situational, or vignette-like, questions helped respondents articulate difficult-to-discuss values. Open-ended prompts allowed respondents to express a diversity of ecosystem-related values and proved sufficiently flexible for interviewees to communicate values for which the protocol did not explicitly probe. Finally, the results suggest that certain values, those mentioned frequently throughout the interview, are particularly salient for particular populations. The protocol can provide efficient, contextual, and place-based data on the importance of particular ecosystem attributes for human well-being. Qualitative data are complementary to quantitative and spatial assessments in the comprehensive representation of people\u27s values pertaining to ecosystems, and this protocol may assist in incorporating values frequently overlooked in decision making processes

Mapping Quality of Life in Nebraska: Population Distribution by Race, Ethnicity, and Age

KEY POINTS This section details key points from the data on racial, ethnic, and age groups across Nebraska. RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITIES IN NEBRASKA • The proportions of Nebraska’s racial and ethnic minority populations tend to be smaller by 4% (i.e., Asian) to 8% (i.e., Black or African American, Hispanic/Latino) than those of the US, except for the Hawaiian and Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaska Native populations (i.e., smaller only by 0.1% to 0.2%). • Nebraska’s urban areas, which comprise 73.1% of the Nebraska population, have higher numbers of racial and ethnic minorities than suburban or rural areas. However, when the relative concentration of racial and ethnic minorities is taken into account, many of the lowest populated counties often have the highest relative concentrations of racial and ethnic minority groups, particularly Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders, American Indian and Alaska Natives, and Hispanic/Latinos, compared to the other counties. • Counties across the central part of the state, as well as the northeast corner, tend to have the highest relative concentrations of racial and ethnic minorities. NEBRASKA YOUNG CHILD AND YOUTH POPULATIONS • Counties in northeast Nebraska have the highest relative concentrations of young children and youth compared to the relative number of young children and youth in the entire state. • Other counties with high relative concentrations of young children and youth tend to be the state’s higher populated counties. NEBRASKA ELDERLY POPULATION • Counties with higher relative elderly concentrations tend to be in rural areas, specifically in western Nebraska and along the Nebraska-Kansas border. • Counties with high relative elderly concentrations tend to be counties with lower relative concentrations of young child and youth populations. INTERSECTIONS OF NEBRASKA RACIAL, ETHNIC, AND AGE GROUPS • Counties with high relative concentrations of young children and youth tend to be the ones that also have high relative concentrations of racial and ethnic minority populations, specifically Hispanic/Latinos and American Indian and Alaska Natives (e.g., Thurston, Platte, Colfax, Dakota, and Dawson counties). • Most counties in Nebraska with high racial/ ethnic minority concentrations have lower relative elderly concentrations, suggesting a low relative concentration of minority elders in these counties

Policy Feedback and the Politics of the Affordable Care Act

There is a large body of literature devoted to how “policies create politics” and how feedback effects from existing policy legacies shape potential reforms in a particular area. Although much of this literature focuses on self‐reinforcing feedback effects that increase support for existing policies over time, Kent Weaver and his colleagues have recently drawn our attention to self‐undermining effects that can gradually weaken support for such policies. The following contribution explores both self‐reinforcing and self‐undermining policy feedback in relationship to the Affordable Care Act, the most important health‐care reform enacted in the United States since the mid‐1960s. More specifically, the paper draws on the concept of policy feedback to reflect on the political fate of the ACA since its adoption in 2010. We argue that, due in part to its sheer complexity and fragmentation, the ACA generates both self‐reinforcing and self‐undermining feedback effects that, depending of the aspect of the legislation at hand, can either facilitate or impede conservative retrenchment and restructuring. Simultaneously, through a discussion of partisan effects that shape Republican behavior in Congress, we acknowledge the limits of policy feedback in the explanation of policy stability and change

A Systematic Map of Genetic Variation in Plasmodium falciparum

Discovering novel genes involved in immune evasion and drug resistance in the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, is of critical importance to global health. Such knowledge may assist in the development of new effective vaccines and in the appropriate use of antimalarial drugs. By performing a full-genome scan of allelic variability in 14 field and laboratory strains of P. falciparum, we comprehensively identified ≈500 genes evolving at higher than neutral rates. The majority of the most variable genes have paralogs within the P. falciparum genome and may be subject to a different evolutionary clock than those without. The group of 211 variable genes without paralogs contains most known immunogens and a few drug targets, consistent with the idea that the human immune system and drug use is driving parasite evolution. We also reveal gene-amplification events including one surrounding pfmdr1, the P. falciparum multidrug-resistance gene, and a previously uncharacterized amplification centered around the P. falciparum GTP cyclohydrolase gene, the first enzyme in the folate biosynthesis pathway. Although GTP cyclohydrolase is not the known target of any current drugs, downstream members of the pathway are targeted by several widely used antimalarials. We speculate that an amplification of the GTP cyclohydrolase enzyme in the folate biosynthesis pathway may increase flux through this pathway and facilitate parasite resistance to antifolate drugs

Contribution of Pollinator-Mediated Crops to Nutrients in the Human Food Supply

The contribution of nutrients from animal pollinated world crops has not previously been evaluated as a biophysical measure for the value of pollination services. This study evaluates the nutritional composition of animal-pollinated world crops. We calculated pollinator dependent and independent proportions of different nutrients of world crops, employing FAO data for crop production, USDA data for nutritional composition, and pollinator dependency data according to Klein et al. (2007). Crop plants that depend fully or partially on animal pollinators contain more than 90% of vitamin C, the whole quantity of Lycopene and almost the full quantity of the antioxidants β-cryptoxanthin and β-tocopherol, the majority of the lipid, vitamin A and related carotenoids, calcium and fluoride, and a large portion of folic acid. Ongoing pollinator decline may thus exacerbate current difficulties of providing a nutritionally adequate diet for the global human population

CropPol: a dynamic, open and global database on crop pollination

Seventy five percent of the world's food crops benefit from insect pollination. Hence, there has been increased interest in how global change drivers impact this critical ecosystem service. Because standardized data on crop pollination are rarely available, we are limited in our capacity to understand the variation in pollination benefits to crop yield, as well as to anticipate changes in this service, develop predictions, and inform management actions. Here, we present CropPol, a dynamic, open and global database on crop pollination. It contains measurements recorded from 202 crop studies, covering 3,394 field observations, 2,552 yield measurements (i.e. berry weight, number of fruits and kg per hectare, among others), and 47,752 insect records from 48 commercial crops distributed around the globe. CropPol comprises 32 of the 87 leading global crops and commodities that are pollinator dependent. Malus domestica is the most represented crop (32 studies), followed by Brassica napus (22 studies), Vaccinium corymbosum (13 studies), and Citrullus lanatus (12 studies). The most abundant pollinator guilds recorded are honey bees (34.22% counts), bumblebees (19.19%), flies other than Syrphidae and Bombyliidae (13.18%), other wild bees (13.13%), beetles (10.97%), Syrphidae (4.87%), and Bombyliidae (0.05%). Locations comprise 34 countries distributed among Europe (76 studies), Northern America (60), Latin America and the Caribbean (29), Asia (20), Oceania (10), and Africa (7). Sampling spans three decades and is concentrated on 2001-05 (21 studies), 2006-10 (40), 2011-15 (88), and 2016-20 (50). This is the most comprehensive open global data set on measurements of crop flower visitors, crop pollinators and pollination to date, and we encourage researchers to add more datasets to this database in the future. This data set is released for non-commercial use only. Credits should be given to this paper (i.e., proper citation), and the products generated with this database should be shared under the same license terms (CC BY-NC-SA). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Photometry of the Didymos System across the DART Impact Apparition

On 2022 September 26, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft impacted Dimorphos, the satellite of binary near-Earth asteroid (65803) Didymos. This demonstrated the efficacy of a kinetic impactor for planetary defense by changing the orbital period of Dimorphos by 33 minutes. Measuring the period change relied heavily on a coordinated campaign of lightcurve photometry designed to detect mutual events (occultations and eclipses) as a direct probe of the satellite’s orbital period. A total of 28 telescopes contributed 224 individual lightcurves during the impact apparition from 2022 July to 2023 February. We focus here on decomposable lightcurves, i.e., those from which mutual events could be extracted. We describe our process of lightcurve decomposition and use that to release the full data set for future analysis. We leverage these data to place constraints on the postimpact evolution of ejecta. The measured depths of mutual events relative to models showed that the ejecta became optically thin within the first ∼1 day after impact and then faded with a decay time of about 25 days. The bulk magnitude of the system showed that ejecta no longer contributed measurable brightness enhancement after about 20 days postimpact. This bulk photometric behavior was not well represented by an HG photometric model. An HG 1 G 2 model did fit the data well across a wide range of phase angles. Lastly, we note the presence of an ejecta tail through at least 2023 March. Its persistence implied ongoing escape of ejecta from the system many months after DART impact