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Intergenerational political socialization is alive and well in the polarized American polity. But, by what mechanism do parental views transmit to children? We develop a theory ( dyadic social learning theory) which posits the importance of dyadic familial communication in facilitating attitudinal concordance between parents and children. Using original survey data of 1,048 dyadic pairs of American parents and middle school-aged children, we develop a novel measure of political perception that combines the perceptive accuracy of parents with the perceptive accuracy of their children. This measure of parent-child alignment, which we argue signals quality communication in families, is a powerful determinant of parent-child congruence on political views and emotions, particularly polarization. When a dyadic pair accurately perceives each other politically, the likelihood of congruent views and shared polarization increases. This research has implications for how we understand political transference of polarized views, and for broader theories of how children are socialized into the political world. It also suggests that solutions to polarization will have to address the role of parents in initiating polarization.

Single‐party parliamentary governments often have no institutional checks on their authority. Such governments can pass and implement policies constrained only by the need to maintain party loyalty and win elections. Literature on delegation suggests that such governments would never adopt reforms such as Administrative Procedures Acts (APAs) that are designed to constrain this freedom. Nevertheless, such governments do pass APAs: Greece, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Sweden have all done so in the past 30 years. We argue that the possibility of losing power motivates parliamentary governments, both single‐party and coalition, to trade current policy loss for future gain with APAs.

Presidential systems around the world vary in the proportion of legislators required to override an executive veto. We argue that the nature of the override provision affects executive influence in policymaking; as the proportion needed to override a veto increases, so should executive influence. We leverage varying override requirements across the US states to conduct a comparative study of executive influence over budgetary outcomes. Using governors' budget requests and enacted appropriations for fiscal years 1987–2011, we provide evidence that state legislatures better accommodate budgetary requests in states with higher override requirements. Further, governors whose preferences are extreme relative to the legislature are more likely to have their budgetary goals met in states with a higher veto threshold.

Astronauts and vestibular patients face analogous challenges to orientation function due to adaptive exogenous (weightlessness-induced) or endogenous (pathology-induced) alterations in the processing of acceleration stimuli. Given some neurovestibular similarities between these challenges, both affected groups may benefit from shared research approaches and adaptation measurement/improvement strategies. This article reviews various past strategies and introduces two plausible ground-based approaches, the first of which is a method for eliciting and assessing vestibular adaptation-induced imbalance. Second, we review a strategy for mitigating imbalance associated with vestibular pathology and fostering readaptation. In discussing the first strategy (for imbalance assessment), we review a pilot study wherein imbalance was elicited (among healthy subjects) via an adaptive challenge that caused a temporary/reversible disruption. The surrogate vestibular deficit was caused by a brief period of movement-induced adaptation to an altered (rotating) gravitoinertial frame of reference. This elicited adaptation and caused imbalance when head movements were made after reentry into the normal (non-rotating) frame of reference. We also review a strategy for fall mitigation, viz., a prototype tactile sway feedback device for aiding balance/recovery after disruptions caused by vestibular pathology. We introduce the device and review a preliminary exploration of its effectiveness in aiding clinical balance rehabilitation (discussing the implications for healthy astronauts). Both strategies reviewed in this article represent cross-disciplinary research spin-offs: the ground-based vestibular challenge and tactile cueing display were derived from aeromedical research to benefit military aviators suffering from flight simulator-relevant aftereffects or inflight spatial disorientation, respectively. These strategies merit further evaluation using clinical and astronaut populations.

Few political institutions are as central to theories of lawmaking as the executive veto. Despite its importance, institutional continuity at the national level has precluded identification of empirical effects of the veto on legislative behavior. We address this limitation and present evidence from the states demonstrating how the veto affects the formation of legislative coalitions and, indirectly, executive influence over policymaking. We find consistent evidence that the presence and strength of gubernatorial veto powers affect the lawmaking behavior of state legislatures. Our analysis shows how institutional provisions condition executives' ability to affect policy outcomes in separation‐of‐powers systems.

The Sex Offender Treatment Intervention and Progress Scale (SOTIPS) is a 16-item rating scale designed to assess dynamic risk among adult male sex offenders and degree of change at 6-month intervals during treatment. The purpose of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the SOTIPS in a construction sample of 759 adult male sex offenders who were under correctional supervision and enrolled in cognitive-behavioral community treatment in Vermont between 2001 and 2007. The scale showed acceptable interrater reliability. SOTIPS scores at 1, 7, and 13 months after participants began treatment predicted sexual, violent, and any recidivism, and return to prison at fixed 1- and 3-year follow-up periods (AUCs = .60 to .85). Combined SOTIPS and Static-99R scores predicted all recidivism types (AUCs = .67 to .89) and outperformed either instrument alone when both instruments had similar predictive power. Participants who demonstrated treatment progress, as reflected by reductions in SOTIPS scores, showed lower rates of recidivism than those who did not.

PurposeThis paper aims to examine a subset of survey data collected through the Computing Research Association's Graduate Cohort Program to see how well theoretical and empirical factors fit with the actual motivations of women graduate students from different cultural backgrounds.Design/methodology/approachSurvey responses from international and US women participants in a support program for CSE graduate women in the USA are compared.FindingsThese analyses indicate that US and international women are similar in what drew them to graduate computing programs. It was chiefly their interest in and enjoyment of computing. They differ in the attraction of particular career features, influence of peers, and belief in the value of competition among graduate students.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is limited by the extent to which these data permit thorough testing of theoretical models, and by lack of comparison with men in computing or women who chose not to enter a graduate computing program.Practical implicationsThe similarities and differences between international and US women in CSE suggest ways to improve the gender balance in this field.Originality/valueThis study provides unique insight into an understudied population.

Explosives compounds, known toxins, are loaded to soils on military training ranges predominantly during explosives detonation events that likely fracture soil particles. This study was conducted to investigate the fate of explosives compounds in aqueous slurries containing fractured and pristine soil particles. Three soils were crushed with a piston to emulate detonation-induced fracturing. X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry, gas adsorption surface area measurements, and scanning electron microscopy were used to quantify and image pristine and fractured soil particles. Aqueous batches were prepared by spiking soils with solutions containing 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX), octahydro 1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX), and 2,4-dinitrotoluene (2,4-DNT). Samples were collected over 92 d and the concentrations of the spiked explosives compounds and TNT transformation products 2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene (2ADNT) and 4-amino-2,6-dinitrotoluene (4ADNT) were measured. Our results suggest soil mineralogical and geochemical compositions were not changed during piston-induced fracturing but morphological differences were evident with fractured soils exhibiting more angular surfaces, more fine grained particles, and some microfracturing that is not visible in the pristine samples. TNT, 2,4-DNT, RDX, and HMX exhibited greater analyte loss over time in batch solutions containing fractured soil particles compared to their pristine counterparts. 2ADNT and 4ADNT exhibited greater concentrations in slurries containing pristine soils than in slurries containing fractured soils. Explosives compound transformation is greater in the presence of fractured soil particles than in the presence of pristine soil particles. Our results imply fractured soil particles promote explosive compound transformation and/or explosives compounds have a greater affinity for adsorption to fractured soil particle surfaces.

Abstract Explosive compounds, including known toxicants 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX), are loaded to soils during military training. Their fate in soils is ultimately controlled by soil mineralogical and biogeochemical processes. We detonated pure mineral phases with Composition B, a mixture of TNT and RDX, and investigated the fate of detonation residues in aqueous slurries constructed from the detonated minerals. The pure minerals included Ottawa sand (quartz and calcite), microcline feldspar, phlogopite mica, muscovite mica, vermiculite clay, beidellite (a representative of the smectite clay group), and nontronite clay. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry, X-ray diffraction, and gas adsorption surface area measurements were made of the pristine and detonated minerals. Batch slurries of detonated minerals and deionized water were sampled for 141 days and TNT, RDX, and TNT transformation products were measured from the aqueous samples and from the mineral substrates at day 141. Detonated samples generally exhibited lower gas adsorption surface areas than pristine ones, likely from residue coating, shock-induced compaction, sintering, and/or partial fusion. TNT and RDX exhibited analyte loss in almost all batch solutions over time but loss was greater in vermiculite, beidellite, and phlogopite than in muscovite and quartz. This suggests common phyllosilicate mineral substrates could be used on military training ranges to minimize off-site migration of explosive residues. We present a conceptual model to represent the physical and chemical processes that occurred in our aqueous batches over time.

Shipping list no.: 2008-0403-P. ; Includes bibliographical references (p. 215-231) and index. ; Mode of access: Internet.