Linking bird species traits to vegetation characteristics in a future urban development zone: implications for urban planning

Identifying the relationships between species traits and patch-scale vegetation characteristics in areas designated for urban development can improve our understanding of how animal communities may change with urbanization. We explored the implications of this premise to the urban planning process in a mixed-use landscape in Canberra (Australia), prior to its development into new suburbs. We used RLQ analysis to relate bird foraging, nesting and body size traits to patch-scale vegetation characteristics. Relationships between species traits and vegetation characteristics within the development zone suggest that species that forage and nest on the ground and in the understory strata, and smaller-bodied species will be most negatively affected by urbanization. Identifying the relationships between species traits and vegetation characteristics may be used by urban planners to (i) identify potentially critical habitat and species at risk from development, (ii) inform the choice of impact mitigation measures, and/or (iii) distinguish between high and low mitigation measures. Analyses conducted early in the planning process can then be used to allocate proposed land uses in an ecologically sensitive way, and to plan appropriate mitigation measures.     

A prospective study of sexual assault and alcohol use among first-year college women

This study prospectively examined the relation between alcohol use and sexual assault in a sample (N = 319) of first-year college women. Both frequency of drinking and frequency of binge drinking were measured. Over the course of their freshman year, 19.3% reported experiencing at least one sexual assault. Frequent binge drinking and frequent drinking predicted a subsequent sexual assault; however, experiencing a sexual assault did not predict changes in alcohol use. Frequent binge drinking demonstrated a stronger association with sexual assault than did frequent drinking. Findings help clarify the relation between alcohol use and sexual assault in college women and call for continued differentiation in assessment of alcohol use.     

Conceptualising Generational Dynamics in Feminist Movements: Political Generations,Waves and Affective Economies

This article reviews efforts to account for dynamics of continuity, change and complexity in contemporary feminism, with a particular emphasis on the utility of the ‘generational paradigm’ of the wave metaphor. We draw on assessments of the wave classification from feminist historians, political theorists and social movement scholars to make a case for the concept of political generation as way to explore patterns of generational‐based contest and collaboration across the women's movement. While political generation allows for an assessment of the role of context in shaping the activist identities of feminists from different generations, it lacks the explanatory power to explain the continuing purchase of the wave metaphor and its function for feminist claims making. Here, we turn to work on the centrality of loss within the affective economies of feminism to explain the functions of the wave metaphor for different elements within women's movements. This analysis is grounded in a brief empirical case of the Irish women's movement characterised as highly fragmented and marked by generational dynamics.     

Attitudes of Black,White, and Hispanic Community Residents Toward Seeking Medical Help

With regard to racial/ethnic health disparities, a variable that has not been well explored is the person’s willingness to seek medical aid when symptoms appear. Until recently, there has been no comprehensive scale to measure these predispositions and their significance for public health. This study’s purpose was to determine whether specific attitudinal differences might constitute barriers to medical help-seeking for racial/ethnic subgroups. In a sample of 380 community residents responding to a mailed survey in the Hartford, CT metropolitan area, racial/ethnic differences were examined for four attitudinal aspects of medical help-seeking: action/intention, cynicism/fatalism, confidence in medical professionals, and fear/avoidance. Multivariate analyses controlling for other demographic, health crisis, and health insurance variables indicated that black, white, and Hispanic subgroups differed strongly on the battery of medical help-seeking attitudes. Although all groups were generally favorable to help-seeking, black and Hispanic respondents expressed more favorable, pro-help-seeking attitudes than did white respondents. Their attitudes were highly significant for action/intention and confidence in medical professionals. This study showed no evidence that racial/ethnic health disparities might result from negative predispositions as barriers to medical help-seeking.     

“Population Invasion” versus Urban Exclusion in the Tibetan Areas of Western China

This article examines the confluence of local population transitions (demographic transition and urbanization) with non‐local in‐migration in the Tibetan areas of western China. The objective is to assess the validity of Tibetan perceptions of “population invasion” by Han Chinese and Chinese Muslims. The article argues that migration to Tibet from other regions in China has been concentrated in urban areas and has been counterbalanced by more rapid rates of natural increase in the Tibetan rural areas—among the highest rates in China. Overall, it is not clear whether there is any risk of population invasion in the Tibetan areas. However, given that non‐Tibetan migration to Tibet has been concentrated in urban areas, Tibetans have probably become a minority in many of their strategic cities and towns, and non‐Tibetan migrants definitely dominate urban employment. Therefore, while the Tibetan notion of population invasion may be a misperception, it reflects a legitimate concern that in‐migration may be exacerbating the economic exclusion of Tibetan locals in the context of rapid urban‐centered development.     

Reflections Regarding Future Cannabis Use Among High‐Frequency Users in a Canadian University Student Population

Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug worldwide, and the most commonly used illicit drug in Canada, among postsecondary student populations. This cross‐sectional study qualitatively assessed 112 high‐frequency, cannabis‐using university students in Canada: It examined their subjective expectations regarding what they anticipated their cannabis use would look like in the short‐ and mid‐term future and explored factors they saw potentially contributing to changes in their prospective drug use. Results indicated that participants believe that decisions about future cannabis use will be influenced by several contextual factors, including education and employment responsibilities, intimate relationships, and peer associations. These findings help illuminate the natural evolution of cannabis use and can guide the development of interventions for high‐frequency cannabis users in the future.     

Emotional labor and leadership: A threat to authenticity?

Building on the emotional labor and authentic leadership literatures, we advance a conceptual model of leader emotional displays. Three categories of leader emotional displays are identified: surface acting, deep acting and genuine emotions. The consistency of expressed leader emotions with affective display rules, together with the type of display chosen, combines to impact the leader's felt authenticity, the favorability of follower impressions, and the perceived authenticity of the leader by the followers. Emotional intelligence, self-monitoring ability, and political skill are proposed as individual differences that moderate leader emotional display responses to affective events. We also look at followers' trust in the leader and leader well-being as key outcomes. Finally, we explore the influence on leader emotional labor of contextual dimensions of the environment, including the omnibus (national and organizational culture, industry and occupation, organizational structure, time) and discrete (situational) context. Directions for future research are discussed.     

Coupling the Biophysical and Social Dimensions of Wildfire Risk to Improve Wildfire Mitigation Planning

We describe recent advances in biophysical and social aspects of risk and their potential combined contribution to improve mitigation planning on fire‐prone landscapes. The methods and tools provide an improved method for defining the spatial extent of wildfire risk to communities compared to current planning processes. They also propose an expanded role for social science to improve understanding of community‐wide risk perceptions and to predict property owners’ capacities and willingness to mitigate risk by treating hazardous fuels and reducing the susceptibility of dwellings. In particular, we identify spatial scale mismatches in wildfire mitigation planning and their potential adverse impact on risk mitigation goals. Studies in other fire‐prone regions suggest that these scale mismatches are widespread and contribute to continued wildfire dwelling losses. We discuss how risk perceptions and behavior contribute to scale mismatches and how they can be minimized through integrated analyses of landscape wildfire transmission and social factors that describe the potential for collaboration among landowners and land management agencies. These concepts are then used to outline an integrated socioecological planning framework to identify optimal strategies for local community risk mitigation and improve landscape‐scale prioritization of fuel management investments by government entities.     

Power Maps in Goodness-of-fit Testing Based on Censored Samples

In goodness-of-fit testing based on Type-II right censored samples, mainly either classical tests are applied to transformed samples, which can be considered as full samples under the null hypothesis, or modifications of the tests are applied to the original samples. Results of an extensive simulation study are presented and discussed in order to compare the different approaches and tests by means of powers against beta alternatives. Depending on the beta parameters, illustrative plots lead to recommended tests in given situations, where there is some prior belief about the size of these parameters in the alternative. Moreover, the effects of adding artificial realizations via random dilation are examined.