Invasion dynamics of white-nose syndrome fungus, midwestern United States, 2012-2014.

White-nose syndrome has devastated bat populations in eastern North America. In Midwestern United States, prevalence increased quickly in the first year of invasion (2012-13) but with low population declines. In the second year (2013-14), environmental contamination led to earlier infection and high population declines. Interventions must be implemented before or soon after fungal invasion to prevent population collapse.

Relationships between God and people in the Bible, Part II: The New Testament, with comparisons with the Torah.

IN AN EARLIER study on the first five books of the Bible, the Torah or Pentateuch, relationships between God and people were assessed with the use of a clinical-quantitative method, the core conflictual relationship theme (CCRT) method. Here, the study is extended to God or Jesus's relationships with people in the New Testament, to obtain the first description of those relationships based on an established measure of relationships. In the New Testament, many different kinds of relationship themes were observed, with benevolent and positive themes as the most frequent. Other results included that: (a) relationships in the New Testament often appeared more positive than in the Torah; (b) New Testament relationships between Jesus and people were less positive than between God and people; and (c) God's relationship with Jesus was more positive than God's relationship with Moses. Relationships with Paul, Peter, and women were also assessed. Relationship patterns were considered within the context of attachment theory, and biblical CCRT patterns were consistent with depiction of both secure and anxious attachments. Biblical relationships portray a variety of models for interpersonal relationships, ranging from the very positive to the very negative.

Relationships between God and people in the Bible, part III: When the other is an outsider.

This study considers intergroup attitudes in the Bible and compares relationships between God or Jesus and (a) Torah non-Israelites; (b) New Testament people who were not followers of Jesus; and (c) New Testament people who were not Jewish. Torah non-Israelites belonged to an out-group with respect to the Hebrew Torah, New Testament people who were not followers of Jesus belonged to an out-group with respect to the Christian New Testament, and New Testament people who were not Jewish were an in-group with respect to Christians. Results were that God or Jesus' relationships were very negative with people in the Torah who were non-Israelites and with people in the New Testament who were not followers, while relationships were positive with people in the New Testament who were not Jewish. Thus, in conclusion, results indicate that both the New Testament and the Torah portray negative relationships between God or Jesus and members of out-groups. Relationships portrayed in New Testament narratives about God and people who were not followers were sometimes more negative than observed for other groups in the New Testament and the Torah; for people who were viewed as outsiders, the New Testament could sometimes be more negative than the Torah. An aim of this study was to identify patterns of relationships between God or Jesus and different types of people in narratives of the Torah and in the New Testament. One of the characteristics of different types of people, including people described in biblical narratives, is whether they are members of in-groups or out-groups. Our focus in this report is on biblical narratives about people who are members of out-groups. The results contribute a clinical-quantitative assessment of out-groups in the Torah and New Testament that is focused on relationship with God, a central issue in the psychology of religion and the Bible.