Anonymous and neutral majority rules

In the standard arrovian framework and under the assumption that individual preferences and social outcomes are linear orders on the set of alternatives, we provide necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of anonymous and neutral rules and for the existence of anonymous and neutral majority rules. We also determine a general method for constructing and counting these rules and we explicitly apply it to some simple cases.     

Assessing Climate Change Impacts on Wildfire Exposure in Mediterranean Areas

We used simulation modeling to assess potential climate change impacts on wildfire exposure in Italy and Corsica (France). Weather data were obtained from a regional climate model for the period 1981–2070 using the IPCC A1B emissions scenario. Wildfire simulations were performed with the minimum travel time fire spread algorithm using predicted fuel moisture, wind speed, and wind direction to simulate expected changes in weather for three climatic periods (1981–2010, 2011–2040, and 2041–2070). Overall, the wildfire simulations showed very slight changes in flame length, while other outputs such as burn probability and fire size increased significantly in the second future period (2041–2070), especially in the southern portion of the study area. The projected changes fuel moisture could result in a lengthening of the fire season for the entire study area. This work represents the first application in Europe of a methodology based on high resolution (250 m) landscape wildfire modeling to assess potential impacts of climate changes on wildfire exposure at a national scale. The findings can provide information and support in wildfire management planning and fire risk mitigation activities.     

The Challenge of Agricultural Sustainability for Asia and Europe

It is expected that climate change (CC), growing population, increasing urbanization and improving living standards are amongst the major drivers influencing future agricultural development needs. Under conventional agricultural systems, the main sources of growth in crop production are well known. Beyond suffering its consequences, agriculture has been shown to act as a driver of CC, primarily through the production and release of about 15% of the atmospheric greenhouse gases but also by altering the resilience of the agro-ecosystems. The main criterion for the production systems called conservation agriculture (CA) is the provision of an optimum environment in the root-zone to maximum possible depth. Under CA the water-holding capacity of the soil increases, and water losses are reduced. CA combined with other complementary techniques can also help reduce the emissions for methane and nitrous oxides and at the same time it can improve rural and socio-economic development.     

Uncovering issues of ableism in social work education: a disability needs assessment

ABSTRACT

Social work education’s commitment to teaching inclusive social work practice must not only be evidenced in the explicit curriculum and teaching methods, it must also be present in the implicit curriculum including administrative policies, student support, and resources. Yet, accessibility and climate efforts often fall short of addressing disability and ableism as barriers to education, despite the clear call for disability to be included as part of the field of social work’s commitment to social justice. A social work graduate program in the USA developed a mixed-methods disability needs assessment, completed by 586 respondents in 2016. The assessment highlighted the frequency with which students experience ableist microaggressions and lack of support they feel they have, as well as the need for a disability-focused community within the school. Results illuminated the need for education on the depth and breadth of disabilities, advocacy, principles of Universal Design for Learning, and ableist microaggressions. These findings can assist social work educators in developing tangible strategies for more inclusive social work education.     

Comparing the effectiveness of individual and group therapy for students with symptoms of anxiety and depression: A randomized pilot study

Abstract

Objective: To examine the effectiveness of individual versus group therapy for anxiety and depression among university students. Participants: Forty-one university students experiencing moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety and/or depression participated during one of three academic semesters from 2015 to 2016. Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to either 6-weeks of individual or group therapy and completed outcome measures at pre-and-post-treatment. Results: Significant reductions in both depression and anxiety scores were found across time, with no significant difference between group and individual therapy outcomes. Exploratory analysis of attitudes toward therapy found that while individual therapy was rated more favorably than group therapy overall, attitudes toward therapy became more favorable from pre to post-treatment for all participants. An interaction showed differences in attitudes toward individual and group therapy according to participants’ randomly assigned treatment. Conclusions: These findings support the increased usage of group therapy within university counseling centers, with implications for stepped care discussed.     

Detecting Public Social Spending Patterns in Italy Using a Three-Way Relative Variation Approach

Studies on public social spending often fail to address the issues connected with budgetary constraints. Budget lines require public entities to partition resources among sectors of spending on the basis of preferred combinations and trade-offs. Standard exploratory tools do not allow to unveil this preference structure as they are hindered by the differences in budget scales and by the bounded nature of sector variability, i.e. an increase in one sector means a missed increase or a decrease in other sectors. In this work Italian public social spending is modeled with an alternative log-ratio methodology which allows to study relative variation patterns among sectors. It is also important to note that since the data is collected across time a three-way approach is recommended so that the variability of each mode is kept separate.

     

Does Self-Identifying as Having a Health Problem Precede Medical Contact? The Case of Infertility

ABSTRACT

Studies of medical help-seeking presume that self-identifying as having a health problem precedes medical contact, but this ordering of the identity-behavior relationship has not been systematically examined. We used longitudinal data from the National Survey of Fertility Barriers (2004 to 2010) on 412 women with infertility to document the temporal relationship between self-identifying as having a fertility problem and making medical contact. The symbolic interactionist perspective suggests that infertility will be perceived as identity disruption and that in response women will align self-identity and medical behavior over time. Cross-tabulation analysis indicated that more women do self-identify as having a fertility problem first (24%) as opposed to making medical contact first (5.5 percent). There was also a tendency toward aligning self-identification and behavior over time. Latent class analyses revealed six patterns: 1) consistently involved, 2) early consulters, 3) consistently uninvolved, 4) consistent perceivers, 5) medical dropouts, and 6) early perceivers. Strong fertility intent and primary infertility, two identity-relevant characteristics, had the strongest associations with latent class membership. The relationship between self-identification and medical help-seeking is thus dynamic and complex.