本杰明·富兰克林对中华文明的汲取——纪念富兰克林诞辰300周年

富兰克林以他的远见卓识认识到,向其他文化学习,对于美洲的人民来说,在把美洲建设成世界其他各地方仿效的样板的过程是十分重要的。在向其他文明学习的过程中,富兰克林努力从中国文明中汲取营养,用孔子的道德哲学来提升自己的道德修养,用中国的技术来提高美洲人民生活质量。他的这一努力为美洲文明的形成做出了巨大贡献。     

Sexual Behavior in Parked Cars Reported by Midwestern College Men and Women

In an anonymous survey of 195 men and 511 women (M_age = 19.8) at a small Midwestern university, 119 men (61%) and 303 women (59.5%) reported that they had engaged in sex while parked. Of these 422, 14% lost their virginity in a parked car. Having sex in parked cars was more likely to involve relational dating partners than hookups. In most recent incidents, the majority of respondents were with a serious but noncohabiting romantic partner (56.9%) in the back seat (63.4%) of a standard car (56.4%) parked out in the country (56.0%). The most common sexual acts were penile-vaginal sex and genital touching, reported by 84.6% and 57.5% of respondents, respectively. Condoms were used by 58.2% of respondents. Less than 1% of respondents reported sexually transmitted infections (STIs) or pregnancy outcomes. These data, including personal stories of memorable incidents, revealed that despite discomfort, body bumps, and risk of being caught, sex while parked was primarily a positive sexual and romantic experience for both men and women. A dark side of parked-car sex existed in that 2.5% of men and 4.3% of women reported being sexually coerced. The future study of sex in parked cars in urban environments is recommended.     

Beyond the urban stream syndrome: organic matter budget for diagnostics and restoration of an impaired urban river

In response to water quality standard violations linked to excessive organic matter (OM) and a lack of sampling data informing the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), an organic matter budget was created to quantify and identify sources of OM in the lower Jordan River (Salt Lake City, UT). By sampling dissolved, fine and coarse particulate OM, as well as measuring ecosystem metabolism at seven different sites, the researchers aimed to identify the origin of excess OM, and understand pathways by which different size classes of the OM pool are generated. The dissolved fraction (DOM; 94 %) was found to be the dominant form of OM transported within the river with fine particulate organic matter (FPOM; 6 %) the second most abundant, and coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM; 1 %) transport relatively insignificant in the overall OM budget. Primary production exceeded respiratory losses in the upper river, and this, along with OM inputs from two tributaries (where water reclamation facilities discharge into the river) delivered excess OM to the impaired lower reaches. Increasing stream metabolism index (SMI) with distance downstream (>1 in the lower river) further demonstrated that transport of excessive organic matter into the lower river was from upstream sources and not due to lateral inputs. This simple approach to characterizing the organic matter budget as it relates to water quality in the Jordan River was effective and could serve as a model for future studies attempting to quantify and identify sources of OM in urban ecosystems.     

Revisiting the Role of Impulsivity and Compulsivity in Problematic Sexual Behaviors

Impulsivity and compulsivity are transdiagnostic features associated with clinically relevant aspects of psychiatric disorders, including addictions. However, little research has investigated how impulsivity and compulsivity relate to hypersexuality and problematic pornography use. Thus, the aims of the present study were to investigate (a) self-reported impulsivity and compulsivity with respect to hypersexuality and problematic pornography use and (b) the similarities and possible differences between hypersexuality and problematic pornography use in these domains. Utilizing structural equation modeling (SEM) in a large community sample (N = 13,778 participants; female = 4,151, 30.1%), results indicated that impulsivity (β = .28, β = .26) and compulsivity (β = .23, β = .14) were weakly related to problematic pornography use among men and women, respectively. Impulsivity had a stronger relationship (β = .41, β = .42) with hypersexuality than did compulsivity (β = .21, β = .16) among men and women, respectively. Consequently, impulsivity and compulsivity may not contribute as substantially to problematic pornography use as some scholars have proposed. On the other hand, impulsivity might have a more prominent role in hypersexuality than in problematic pornography use. Future research should examine further social and situational factors associated with problematic pornography use.