The Relation between Observational Measures of Social Problem Solving and Familial Antisocial Behavior: Genetic and Environmental Influences

Deficits in social problem‐solving skills are often associated with antisocial behavior, particularly in children’s extrafamilial relationships. The current study was designed to examine this association in several new ways: the association was examined at two times in an adolescent sample within the context of the family; genetic models were used to estimate genetic and environmental effects on observational measures of problem solving and antisocial behavior and on the association between the two. The analyses were conducted as part of the Nonshared Environment in Adolescent Development project, consisting of 720 families at Time 1 (mean adolescent age: 14.5 years) and 440 families at Time 2 (mean adolescent age: 16.1 years). Genetic influence was found for antisocial behavior, but not for problem solving. The findings of shared environmental influences on these measures and their association are unusual in the behavioral genetic literature and are important in that respect.     

The Impact of Board Diversity and Expertise on Nonprofit Performance

This study examined the impact of board of director characteristics on nonprofit performance. Using data collected through a survey of nonprofit colleges and universities, the author provides evidence that specific board member characteristics are vital in shaping the financial and nonfinancial success of nonprofit institutions of higher education. Results indicate that both board member diversity and expertise are associated with better‐performing organizations. This work makes important initial forays into the relationships between board of director qualities and nonprofit performance. Although limited by the relatively small sample of colleges and universities, this study is unique in its ability to analyze nonprofit boards and both financial and nonfinancial performance measures.     

The Self‐Directed Search as a Stand‐Alone Intervention With College Students

The Self‐Directed Search (SDS; Holland, 1994 ) is sometimes administered to large student groups outside of counseling to address common career development needs. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the SDS as a stand‐alone intervention by comparing a general sample of college students who completed the SDS (n = 39) with a no‐treatment control group (n = 41) on several outcomes. Completion of the SDS related to an increase in the number of career alternatives being considered 4 weeks later but did not relate to career exploration, career decision‐making self‐efficacy, career indecision, and seeking of career counseling services. If the SDS is used outside of counseling with broad student samples, the authors suggest providing additional intervention to ensure that it promotes exploration of any additional careers being considered.     

Gender conformity,self-objectification,and body image for sorority and nonsorority women: A closer look

Sororities have been identified as placing young women at risk for body image concerns due to a focus on traditional gender role norms and objectification of women. Objective: This study assessed the relationship between conformity to feminine gender role norms, self-objectification, and body image surveillance among undergraduate women. Participants: In a random sample of undergraduates, the authors examined data from sorority and nonsorority women. Methods: In a random sample of undergraduate women, the authors assessed the impact of traditional feminine gender role norms on self-objectification, body image, and feedback regarding physical appearance for sorority and nonsorority undergraduate women. Results: Three linear regressions were conducted, and only conformity to feminine gender role norms contributed significantly in each regression model. Conclusions: Regardless of sorority membership, conformity to feminine gender role norms was found to significantly contribute to increased body consciousness, negative body image, and feedback on physical appearance.     

A Case Study Evaluating the Risk of Infection from Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS‐CoV) in a Hospital Setting Through Bioaerosols

Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome, an emerging viral infection with a global case fatality rate of 35.5%, caused major outbreaks first in 2012 and 2015, though new cases are continuously reported around the world. Transmission is believed to mainly occur in healthcare settings through aerosolized particles. This study uses Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment to develop a generalizable model that can assist with interpreting reported outbreak data or predict risk of infection with or without the recommended strategies. The exposure scenario includes a single index patient emitting virus‐containing aerosols into the air by coughing, leading to short‐ and long‐range airborne exposures for other patients in the same room, nurses, healthcare workers, and family visitors. Aerosol transport modeling was coupled with Monte Carlo simulation to evaluate the risk of MERS illness for the exposed population. Results from a typical scenario show the daily mean risk of infection to be the highest for the nurses and healthcare workers (8.49 × 10^?4 and 7.91 × 10^?4, respectively), and the lowest for family visitors and patients staying in the same room (3.12 × 10^?4 and 1.29 × 10^?4, respectively). Sensitivity analysis indicates that more than 90% of the uncertainty in the risk characterization is due to the viral concentration in saliva. Assessment of risk interventions showed that respiratory masks were found to have a greater effect in reducing the risks for all the groups evaluated (>90% risk reduction), while increasing the air exchange was effective for the other patients in the same room only (up to 58% risk reduction).     

Problem Formulation and Solution Mechanisms: A Behavioral Study of Humanitarian Transportation Planning

When dealing with urgent, ill‐defined problems, such as rapidly evolving emergency situations, operations managers have little time for problem formulation or solution. While the mechanisms by which humans formulate and solve problems have been described, mechanisms for rapid, concurrent formulating and solving are not well understood. This study investigates these mechanisms through a field study of transportation planning in a humanitarian response setting. The findings show that the problem is solved through greedy search and formulated through sensemaking, in which search enables updates to an evolving problem formulation, and the formulation directs and limits the search process. This study explores the implications of these findings for the development of better problem formulation processes and problem‐solving strategies for urgent and ill‐defined operations management problems.     

Diet of Florida coyotes in a protected wildland and suburban habitat

Coyotes (Canis latrans) arrived to Florida (USA) in the 1960s and are currently found throughout most of the state. The purpose of this study was to determine if the diet of Florida coyotes differed between suburban and wildland habitat types or across seasons. Fresh coyote fecal samples were collected from wildland and suburban habitats in Pinellas County, Florida (USA; 27°54′N, 82°41′W) from May 2005 to March 2007. Diet items in the 49 wildland and 71 suburban samples were identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level by gross morphological characteristics and medullary configurations of dorsal guard hairs. A Poisson regression was utilized to determine the main and interactive effects of habitat and season on the number of different food items per sample. Coyotes in the wildland habitat had greater diet diversity than suburban coyotes. In addition, anthropogenic waste was recovered over twice as often from coyote fecal samples collected in the suburban habitat. In the wildland habitat, vegetative matter (96%), Insecta (53%), and Rodentia (45%) were recovered most often, as opposed to berries (56%) and Lagomorpha (32%) in the suburban habitat. In both habitats, vegetative matter, berries, and Lagomorpha were recovered most often from coyote fecal samples, whereas Odocoileus virginianus, Lagomorpha, and berries varied the most between wet and dry seasons. This study suggests that as urbanization increases, diet diversity for the coyote will likely decrease and consumption of anthropogenic items will likely increase. As a result of this, human–coyote conflicts may become more common—particularly in counties, like Pinellas, that are undergoing urbanization.