City dwelling wild bees: how communal gardens promote species richness

Urban areas consist of wide expanses of impervious surfaces which are known to negatively affect insect biodiversity in general, but green spaces within cities have the potential to provide necessary habitat and foraging resources. Although, communal gardens were primarily intended to provide fresh, regional food to denizens, these green islands also host a surprisingly high number of wild bee species.

The gardens were characterized based on structural elements such as flower frequency, the relative percentage of lawn, trees, shrubs, planted crops and infrastructure (e.g. seating possibilities or garden houses). Further, the effects of different landscape structures surrounding the gardens and distance to the city center were analyzed on the total wild bee species richness and functional traits. Focusing on these putative influencing factors, statistical analyses calculating random decision forests along with generalized linear mixed models were applied. With 113 observed wild bee species, communal gardens provide habitat for a quarter of all known species in Vienna. In conclusion, results revealed that only elements within the gardens had an effect on species richness, with flower frequency as the major positive driver. The examined communal gardens promote and conserve wild bees independent from the location within the city or garden size. Furthermore, these green patches are important sanctuaries, hosting rare and threatened species as well as remarkably special wild bee communities.

     

Predictors of Adolescent Participation in Organized Activities: A Five‐Year Longitudinal Study

This study examined (a) growth curves of youth participation in sports, performance and fine arts, and youth clubs throughout the high school years and (b) the associations between a series of predictors and the initial participation rates and growth over time. The predictors included individual, friend, and family factors. The moderating effect of youths' gender was also examined. Study participants were 272 youths (55% girls, M_age=12.4 years) and their parents. The predictors were assessed in Grade 6 and were based on reports by youths, parents, teachers, and classmates. Participation in organized activities was assessed annually from Grades 7 to 10. Altogether, the findings revealed that participation in sports, performance and fine arts, and youth clubs remains stable across the high school years. However, interindividual differences were found in the participation growth curves. This variation was predicted by individual, friend, and family factors, mostly with respect to sports activities.     

Gerontocracy in a comparative perspective: Explaining why political leaders are (almost always) older than their constituents

Gerontocracy, in its narrowest sense, refers to political systems ruled by elderly people, whether de jure or de facto. Although formal gerontocratic rules are progressively disappearing, contemporary political systems are still governed by individuals who are significantly older than the mean voter. This article reviews existing explanations for the prevalence of gerontocracy. To summarize main findings, gerontocracy cannot be explained by the leadership qualities of older rulers: aging leaders do not perform better in office and voters seem to be aware of it. Instead, existing research suggests that gerontocracy can be explained by strategic considerations. In autocracies, the selectorate tends to choose aging leaders in order to reduce their expected tenure length. In democracies, voters are more likely to select experienced candidates, which they expect to be more effective at advancing the interests of their constituency: this premium put on experience mechanically lengthens political careers and increases the age of the average politician. Finally, older voters, which participate more in politics, tend to prefer older politicians, because they (correctly) expect them to better defend their own interests.     

Adaptation and Evaluation of a Group Curriculum for Latino Clients in a Driving Under the Influence Program

The purpose of this study was to describe the process of culturally adapting group curriculum modules for Spanish speaking clients in a Driving Under the Influence Program as well as to test the acceptability of these modules. Using the Group Topics Evaluation Scale (English and Spanish version), 90 clients rated six modules that were presented in 30 different group sessions. Spanish speaking clients were significantly more likely to rate all six modules much higher than their English speaking counterparts, indicating acceptability. This is important as driving-under-the-influence programs may provide access to Latino clients not seen elsewhere. Possible further research is discussed.     

Relations between Theory of Mind and Indirect and Physical Aggression in Kindergarten: Evidence of the Moderating Role of Prosocial Behaviors

The present study examined the association between theory of mind and indirect versus physical aggression, as well as the potential moderating role of prosocial behavior in this context. Participants were 399 twins and singletons drawn from two longitudinal studies in Canada. At five years of age, children completed a theory of mind task and a receptive vocabulary task. A year later, teachers evaluated children's indirect and physical aggression and prosocial behavior. Indirect aggression was significantly and positively associated with theory of mind skills, but only in children with average or low levels of prosocial behavior. Physical aggression was negatively associated with prosocial behavior but not with theory of mind. Each analysis included gender, receptive vocabulary, and the respective other subtype of aggression as control variables. These results did not differ between girls and boys or between twins and singletons. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Inferring an Augmented Bayesian Network to Confront a Complex Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment Model with Durability Studies: Application to Bacillus Cereus on a Courgette Purée Production Chain

The Monte Carlo (MC) simulation approach is traditionally used in food safety risk assessment to study quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) models. When experimental data are available, performing Bayesian inference is a good alternative approach that allows backward calculation in a stochastic QMRA model to update the experts’ knowledge about the microbial dynamics of a given food‐borne pathogen. In this article, we propose a complex example where Bayesian inference is applied to a high‐dimensional second‐order QMRA model. The case study is a farm‐to‐fork QMRA model considering genetic diversity of Bacillus cereus in a cooked, pasteurized, and chilled courgette purée. Experimental data are Bacillus cereus concentrations measured in packages of courgette purées stored at different time‐temperature profiles after pasteurization. To perform a Bayesian inference, we first built an augmented Bayesian network by linking a second‐order QMRA model to the available contamination data. We then ran a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm to update all the unknown concentrations and unknown quantities of the augmented model. About 25% of the prior beliefs are strongly updated, leading to a reduction in uncertainty. Some updates interestingly question the QMRA model.     

A SARIMAX coupled modelling applied to individual load curves intraday forecasting

A dynamic coupled modelling is investigated to take temperature into account in the individual energy consumption forecasting. The objective is both to avoid the inherent complexity of exhaustive SARIMAX models and to take advantage of the usual linear relation between energy consumption and temperature for thermosensitive customers. We first recall some issues related to individual load curves forecasting. Then, we propose and study the properties of a dynamic coupled modelling taking temperature into account as an exogenous contribution and its application to the intraday prediction of energy consumption. Finally, these theoretical results are illustrated on a real individual load curve. The authors discuss the relevance of such an approach and anticipate that it could form a substantial alternative to the commonly used methods for energy consumption forecasting of individual customers.     

Attachment Insecurities and Women's Sexual Function and Satisfaction: The Mediating Roles of Sexual Self-Esteem,Sexual Anxiety,and Sexual Assertiveness

We examined the potential role of three mediators—sexual self-esteem, sexual anxiety, and sexual assertiveness—of the association between romantic attachment insecurities (anxiety and avoidance) and two aspects of women's sexual functioning: sexual function and sexual satisfaction. A sample of 556 women aged 18 to 30 agreed to complete an online series of validated questionnaires assessing attachment insecurities and several aspects of sexual functioning. Lower sexual self-esteem and higher sexual anxiety mediated the associations between attachment anxiety and lower sexual function and satisfaction. Lower sexual self-esteem and higher sexual anxiety also partially mediated the links between attachment-related avoidance and the two sexual functioning variables. Sexual assertiveness, however, did not mediate these associations. A significant interaction between attachment anxiety and avoidance was also found to predict sexual satisfaction, with women high in avoidance and low in anxiety being the least satisfied. Results are discussed in terms of theoretical and clinical implications.