Antarctic surface temperature and elevation during the Last Glacial Maximum.

Water-stable isotopes in polar ice cores are a widely used temperature proxy in paleoclimate reconstruction, yet calibration remains challenging in East Antarctica. Here, we reconstruct the magnitude and spatial pattern of Last Glacial Maximum surface cooling in Antarctica using borehole thermometry and firn properties in seven ice cores. West Antarctic sites cooled ~10°C relative to the preindustrial period. East Antarctic sites show a range from ~4° to ~7°C cooling, which is consistent with the results of global climate models when the effects of topographic changes indicated with ice core air-content data are included, but less than those indicated with the use of water-stable isotopes calibrated against modern spatial gradients. An altered Antarctic temperature inversion during the glacial reconciles our estimates with water-isotope observations.

The Relationship Between Domestic Partner Violence and Suicidal Behaviors in an Adult Community Sample: Examining Hope Agency and Pathways as Protective Factors.

We examined an additive and interactive model involving domestic partner violence (DPV) and hope in accounting for suicidal behaviors in a sample of 98 community adults. Results showed that DPV accounted for a significant amount of variance in suicidal behaviors. Hope further augmented the prediction model and accounted for suicidal behaviors beyond DPV. Finally, we found that DPV significantly interacted with both dimensions of hope to further account for additional variance in suicidal behaviors above and beyond the independent effects of DPV and hope. Implications for the role of hope in the relationship between DPV and suicidal behaviors are discussed.

A Pleistocene palaeovegetation record from plant wax biomarkers from the Nachukui Formation, West Turkana, Kenya.

Reconstructing vegetation at hominin fossil sites provides us critical information about hominin palaeoenvironments and the potential role of climate in their evolution. Here we reconstruct vegetation from carbon isotopes of plant wax biomarkers in sediments of the Nachukui Formation in the Turkana Basin. Plant wax biomarkers were extracted from samples from a wide range of lithologies that include fluvial-lacustrine sediments and palaeosols, and therefore provide a record of vegetation from diverse depositional environments. Carbon isotope ratios from biomarkers indicate a highly dynamic vegetation structure (ca 5-100% C4 vegetation) from 2.3 to 1.7 Ma, with an overall shift towards more C4 vegetation on the landscape after about 2.1 Ma. The biomarker isotope data indicate ca 25-30% more C4 vegetation on the landscape than carbon isotope data of pedogenic carbonates from the same sequence. Our data show that the environments of early Paranthropus and Homo in this part of the Turkana Basin were primarily mixed C3-C4 to C4-dominated ecosystems. The proportion of C4-based foods in the diet of Paranthropus increases through time, broadly paralleling the increase in C4 vegetation on the landscape, whereas the diet of Homo remains unchanged. Biomarker isotope data associated with the Kokiselei archaeological site complex, which includes the site where the oldest Acheulean stone tools to date were recovered, indicate 61-97% C4 vegetation on the landscape.This article is part of the themed issue 'Major transitions in human evolution'.

Sexual Assault and Depressive Symptoms in College Students: Do Psychological Needs Account for the Relationship?

In this study, authors examined basic psychological needs (namely, competence, autonomy, and relatedness) as potential mediators of the association between sexual assault and depressive symptoms in a sample of 342 college students. Results from conducting a multiple mediation test provided support for partial mediation involving the indirect effects of competence and autonomy. In contrast, no support for mediation was found involving relatedness. It is notable that sexual assault remained a significant predictor of depressive symptoms in students. Therefore, findings indicate how sexual assault may both directly and indirectly (through psychological needs) lead to greater depressive symptoms in students. Authors concluded the article with a discussion of the implications of their findings for expanding the study of basic psychological needs in college students and the need for greater efforts to prevent and treat sexual assault on campus.

Understanding how domestic abuse is associated with greater depressive symptoms in a community sample of female primary care patients: does loss of belongingness matter?

This study examined the relationship between domestic abuse, belongingness, and depressive symptoms in a community sample of 71 female primary care patients. As expected, domestic abuse was associated with greater depressive symptoms. Results from conducting mediation analyses, including bootstrapping techniques, provided strong convergent support for a model in which the hypothesized effect of domestic abuse on depressive symptoms in women is mediated by a loss of belongingness. Noteworthy, even after controlling for content overlap between measures of belongingness and depressive symptoms, the mediation model remained significant. Some implications of the present findings are discussed.

Understanding the relationship between domestic abuse and suicide behavior in adults receiving primary care: does forgiveness matter?

This study examined the interrelation of domestic abuse, forgiveness of self, forgiveness of others, and suicide behavior in a community sample of 101 patients receiving primary care from a clinic in the southeastern United States. As expected, it was found that more frequent experience of domestic abuse was associated with more frequent suicide behavior. Results from conducting mediation analyses and using bootstrapping techniques provided support for a model in which the relationship between domestic abuse and suicide behavior was accounted for by forgiveness of self, but not by forgiveness of others. The article concludes with a discussion of some of the implications of the present findings for practice and the study's limitations.

BMI, body discrepancy, and self-construal as predictors of eating disturbances in European and Asian American females.

This study examined for ethnic variations in the predictive utility of body discrepancy and self-construal in eating disturbances between 156 European American and 129 Asian American females. We found important ethnic variations in the prediction model between these two groups, especially in the value of self-construal. Some implications of the present findings are discussed.