Heterotrophic soil protists encompass lineages that are both evolutionarily ancient and highly diverse, providing an untapped wealth of scientific insight. Yet the diversity of free-living heterotrophic terrestrial protists is still largely unknown. To contribute to our understanding of this diversity, we present a checklist of heterotrophic protists currently reported from terrestrial Antarctica, for which no comprehensive evaluation currently exists. As a polar continent, Antarctica is especially susceptible to rising temperatures caused by anthropogenic climate change. Establishing a baseline for future conservation efforts of Antarctic protists is therefore important. We performed a literature search and found 236 taxa identified to species and an additional 303 taxa identified to higher taxonomic levels in 54 studies spanning over 100 years of research. Isolated by distance, climate and the circumpolar vortex, Antarctica is the most extreme continent on Earth: it is not unreasonable to think that it may host physiologically and evolutionarily unique species of protists, yet currently most species discovered in Antarctica are considered cosmopolitan. Additional sampling of the more extreme intra-continental zones will probably result in the discovery of more novel and unique taxa.

Heyes asks whether cultural learning mechanisms are cognitive instincts or cognitive gadgets. I argue that imitation does not fall into either category. Instead, its acquisition is promoted by its value in social interactions, which is evident across phylogeny and ontogeny and does not depend on the role of imitation in cultural learning.

It is common for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be considered one of the most conservative religious groups in the United States. What is less well understood is as to when the relationship between Mormonism and American conservatism began. While some historians point to the social upheavals in the 1960s and 1970s as the glue that united Mormons and conservatives, the connection began decades earlier during the Great Depression. Leaders of the Mormon Church interpreted Roosevelt’s New Deal as the fulfillment of eschatological prophecy. Envisioning themselves saving America and the Constitution at the world’s end, Mormon authorities established their own welfare program to inspire Latter-day Saints and Americans in general to eschew the New Deal. Anti–New Dealers used the Mormon welfare plan to construct a conservative ideology. Accordingly, Mormons are essential elements in the formation of a political movement that revolutionized the United States.

May's careful examination of empirical evidence makes a compelling case against the primacy of emotion in driving moral judgments. At the same time, emotion certainly is involved in moral judgments. We argue that emotion interacts with beliefs, values, and moral principles through a process of coherence-based reasoning (operating at least partially below the level of conscious awareness) in generating moral judgments and decisions.

This study originated in collaboration with Thomas Dishion because of concerns that a group format for aggressive children might dampen the effects of cognitive-behavioral intervention. Three hundred sixty aggressive preadolescent children were screened through teacher and parent ratings. Schools were randomized to receive either an individual or a group format of the child component of the same evidence-based program. The results indicate that there is variability in how group-based cognitive-behavioral intervention can affect aggressive children through a long 4-year follow-up after the end of the intervention. Aggressive children who have higher skin conductance reactivity (potentially an indicator of poorer emotion regulation) and who have a variant of the oxytocin receptor gene that may be associated with being hyperinvolved in social bonding have better outcomes in their teacher-rated externalizing behavior outcomes over time if they were seen individually rather than in groups. Analyses also indicated that higher levels of the group leaders’ clinical skills predicted reduced externalizing behavior problems. Implications for group versus individual format of cognitive-behavioral interventions for aggressive children, and for intensive training for group therapists, informed by these results, are discussed.

Recent work on counter-insurgency, client states, foreign aid, and proxy wars uses a principal–agent framework to study the principal’s ability to induce an agent to exert effort on the principal’s behalf. This work broadly emphasizes the moral hazard problem and the actors’ limited commitment power. The latter is usually addressed through the logic of repeated games in which reneging on an agreement triggers future punishment. This study analyzes a related incentive problem that undermines the principal’s ability to induce an agent to exert effort on its behalf. The repeated-game’s enforcement mechanism tends to break down if the principal is trying to get the agent to resolve a problem that, if resolved, (i) creates an ongoing problem for the agent and (ii) simultaneously significantly reduces the agent’s ability to impose future costs on the principal. The principal cannot induce the agent to exert much effort in these circumstances, and the problem persists.

Conflicts with wildlife are a major challenge for conservation across Africa, and Nile crocodiles Crocodylus niloticus are allegedly responsible for more attacks on people than any other species; however, there is a lack of data regarding such attacks. We analysed reported attacks on people by Nile crocodiles in South Africa and eSwatini (Swaziland) during 1949–2016, identifying spatial and temporal patterns in attack incidence, as well as victim demographics. Through a literature review and archival searches we identified records of 214 attacks. Most attacks occurred in natural water bodies, with attacks in dams increasing since 2000. Most victims were attacked while swimming or bathing, others while fishing, doing domestic chores, and crossing waterways. There was a significant relationship between gender and activity when attacked. Children (< 16 years old) accounted for 51% of all attacks, with a higher fatality rate compared to adults. Most victims were male (65%), with teenage boys being the largest individual category. We make recommendations for conservation policy and management to mitigate attacks by Nile crocodiles.

This article consolidates the pros and cons of the two common modelling techniques for economic impact analysis: the input–output multiplier and the computable general equilibrium (CGE) technique. The latter is recommended for large event assessment and was used to examine the economic impacts of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. The Games is estimated to have generated approximately A$2.5 billion of gross state product (GSP) to Queensland after netting out the costs incurred. The effect is spread over a period of nine years from pre-Games period of preparation for the Games, through the Games period itself, and then rather significantly in the post-Games period. While benefits accrue to Queensland, the rest of Australia is estimated to lose due to the so-called ‘crowding out effect’.