Home environmental influences on children's language and reading skills in a genetically sensitive design: Are socioeconomic status and home literacy environment environmental mediators and moderators?

This twin study examined how family socioeconomic status (SES) and home literacy environment (HLE) contributes to Chinese language and reading skills. It included 312 Chinese twin pairs aged 3 to 11. Children were individually administered tasks of Chinese word reading, receptive vocabulary and reading‐related cognitive skills, and nonverbal reasoning ability. Information on home environment was collected through parent‐reported questionnaires. Results showed that SES and HLE mediated shared environmental influences but did not moderate genetic influences on general language and reading abilities. Also, SES and HLE mediated shared environmental contributions to receptive vocabulary and syllable and rhyme awareness, but not orthographic skills. The findings of this study add to past twin studies that focused on alphabetic languages, suggesting that these links could be universal across languages. They also extend existing findings on SES and HLE's contributions to reading‐related cognitive skills.     

Impact of coherent and incoherent twin boundaries on the microhardness of annealed nanocrystalline Ni–W alloys

The microstructural evolution of nanocrystalline Ni–W alloys with annealing temperature and more specifically grain boundary (GB) character is investigated through several techniques and correlated with the hardening behaviour. It is shown that two distinct regions can be identified in relation to the annealing temperature and the microstructural evolution. At temperatures below 550 °C (Regime I), a small increase in grain size is observed and is accompanied by a significant hardening and an increase in the fraction of Σ3 incoherent twin boundaries. At temperatures above 550 °C (Regime II), the thermal stability is overcome and important grain growth occurs with a decrease in both the volumic fraction of GBs and the microhardness. It is suggested that the microhardness evolution during heat treatment is influenced by two opposing processes: an increase in the fraction of incoherent twin boundaries (hardening effect) and grain growth (softening effect). Both aspects are directly associated with the mean free path of mobile dislocations.     

‘Who is my Jung?’ The progressive,though sometimes ambivalent,expansion of Jung's idea of the collective unconscious: from an ‘unconscious humanity’ to – in all but name – the soul of the world

This paper discusses Jung's idea of myth as a projection of the collective unconscious, suggesting that the term ‘projection’ separates human beings from nature, withdrawing nature's life into humanity. Jung's discovery of a realm independent of consciousness – in conversations with his soul in The Red Book, and in synchronicity, began a dialogue which finally brought him, through the Alchemical Mercurius, closer to the idea of a world‐soul.     

THREE COMPARATIVE MAPS OF THE HUMAN

Abstract. This article is a response to the 1994 Star Island conference on the "Decade of the Brain" from a Jewish perspective. After a brief introduction about the logical function of models and maps, I compare and contrast three models of the human: Ezekiel's vision of the chariot in the Hebrew Scriptures, Franz Rosenzweig's geometry of the human face in Der Stern der Erlosung (the Star of Redemption), and a standard anatomical picture of the human brain. Whereas Rosenzweigs face is seen to be compatible with Ezekiel's chariot, both are seen to be radically distinct from the implicit conception of what a human being is in modern medical science. I conclude with a suggestion that the differences are to be understood in terms of their different intended functions and express my hope for some new kind of model that will incorporate the functional advantages of both.     

RALPH WENDELL BURHOE: HIS LIFE AND HIS THOUGHT

Abstract. The fourth installment from the author's book-length study of Ralph Wendell Burhoe's life and thought sets forth the substance of his intellectual theological program. Constructed with the intention of laying the foundation for behavior that conforms to the requirements for survival as laid down by the reality system of which we are part, it also aims to provide motivation for such behavior. The heart of the program is formed by concepts of God and soul. The concept of God grounds an understanding of a reality system upon which we are dependent and to which we must conform whereas the concept of soul gives assurance that our behavior does make a difference and that our contributions to the reality system possess an everlasting quality.     

Learning to Pray

Joan Beck writes a personal account of how her life of prayer has developed since graduating from seminary in 1978. She tells how, through prayer, the Holy Spirit enlivened the presence of Christ in her as she learned to listen more than talk and weathered dry spells of no response. She hopes that by including reports and resources from her own journey, readers will be moved to reflect upon and share what they have learned through prayer.     

Is the association between childhood maltreatment and aggressive behavior mediated by hostile attribution bias in women? A discordant twin and sibling study

Understanding the mechanisms behind aggressive behavior (AGG) is vital so that effective prevention and intervention strategies can be developed. Maltreated children are hypothesized to be prone to social information processing biases, such as hostile attribution bias (HAB), which, in turn, may increase the likelihood of behaving aggressively. The first aim of the present study was to replicate findings regarding associations between childhood maltreatment (CM), HAB, and aggression in a population‐based sample of Finnish female twins and their sisters (N = 2,167). However, these associations might not be causal but instead confounded by familial factors, shared between the variables. The second aim was, thus, to test the associations when potential confounding by familial (genetic or common environmental) effects were controlled for using a multilevel discordant twin and sibling design within (a) 379 pairs of twins (n_pairs = 239) or siblings (n_pairs = 140), and (b) within the 131 monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs. Consistent with previous studies, HAB mediated the association between CM and AGG when familial confounding was uncontrolled. No support was found for the mediation when controlling for familial confounding. Between‐pair associations were found between CM and AGG, and between CM and HAB. In addition, within‐pair associations were found between HAB and AGG, and between CM and AGG, however, these were nonsignificant in the discordant MZ analysis, offering the most stringent control of familial confounding. The results indicate the necessity of taking familial confounding into account when investigating the development of AGG.