Behavioral responses of rural and urban greater white-toothed shrews (Crocidura russula) to sound disturbance

Urban Ecosystems - The development of urban areas imposes challenges that wildlife must adapt to in order to persist in these new habitats. One of the greatest changes brought by urbanization has...     

What Influences the Location of Nonprofit Organizations? A Spatial Analysis in Brazil

What are the local characteristics influencing where new nonprofits will be established? How important are community needs, available resources, or the existence of similar organizations for nonprofits’ location? This paper analyzes how the characteristics of 5562 Brazilian municipalities in the year 2000 help explain the location of nonprofits formed between 2001 and 2010. Based on geographically weighted regressions, results indicate that neither access to resources nor poor socioeconomic indicators are powerful influences on nonprofit location in Brazilian municipalities. The main predictor of nonprofit entry is a high pre-existing density of nonprofits in that area. These findings, however, vary across regions and nonprofit fields of activity. By mapping the effect of key explanatory variables, this paper helps understand nonprofit location. The methodology and findings on nonprofit location presented here are novel and may contribute to research in other countries.     

‘Here and There’: Children and Youth’s Perspectives of Borders in Mexico–United States Migration

This article explores children’s perspectives regarding migration and family separation on both sides of the Mexico‐U.S. border. ‘Transnational care constellations’¹ that connect separated siblings allow children to imagine the other side of the border and to explore their thoughts and perspectives through the lenses of inequality, as well as through a sense of belonging and family. This article presents ethnographic data of families that capture the dynamism of families that are both ‘here and there’ as children assemble their ideas and narratives of how transnational lives exist.     

A Bayesian model for estimating the malaria transition probabilities considering individuals lost to follow-up

It is known that patients may cease participating in a longitudinal study and become lost to follow-up. The objective of this article is to present a Bayesian model to estimate the malaria transition probabilities considering individuals lost to follow-up. We consider a homogeneous population, and it is assumed that the considered period of time is small enough to avoid two or more transitions from one state of health to another. The proposed model is based on a Gibbs sampling algorithm that uses information of lost to follow-up at the end of the longitudinal study. To simulate the unknown number of individuals with positive and negative states of malaria at the end of the study and lost to follow-up, two latent variables were introduced in the model. We used a real data set and a simulated data to illustrate the application of the methodology. The proposed model showed a good fit to these data sets, and the algorithm did not show problems of convergence or lack of identifiability. We conclude that the proposed model is a good alternative to estimate probabilities of transitions from one state of health to the other in studies with low adherence to follow-up.     

Looking for max-semistability: A new test for the extreme value condition

To test the extreme value condition, Cramér-Von Mises type tests were recently proposed by Drees et al. (2006) and Dietrich et al. (2002). Hüsler and Li (2006) presented a simulation study on the behavior of these tests and verified that they are not robust for models in the domain of attraction of a max-semistable distribution function. In this work we develop a test statistic that distinguishes quite well distribution functions which belong to a max-stable domain of attraction from those in a max-semistable one. The limit law is deduced and the results from a numerical simulation study are presented.     

An alternative method for global and partial comparison of two diagnostic systems based on ROC curves

In this paper, an alternative method for the comparison of two diagnostic systems based on receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves is presented. ROC curve analysis is often used as a statistical tool for the evaluation of diagnostic systems. However, in general, the comparison of ROC curves is not straightforward, in particular, when they cross each other. A similar difficulty is also observed in the multi-objective optimization field where sets of solutions defining fronts must be compared with a multi-dimensional space. Thus, the proposed methodology is based on a procedure used to compare the performance of distinct multi-objective optimization algorithms. In general, methods based on the area under the ROC curves are not sensitive to the existence of crossing points between the curves. The new approach can deal with this situation and also allows the comparison of partial portions of ROC curves according to particular values of sensitivity and specificity of practical interest. Simulations results are presented. For illustration purposes, considering real data from newborns with very low birthweight, the new method was applied in order to discriminate the better index for evaluating the risk of death.     

Structural and Individual Determinants of Outmarriage Among Chinese-, Filipino-, and Japanese-Americans in California*

This study combines structural factors of intergroup relations with personal assimilation factors to examine Asian American intermarriage in California, We conduct a multilevel logistic regression analysis of outmarriage among Chinese, Filipinos, and Japanese in 14 California metropolitan statistical areas with high con centrations of Asian Americans by using the 1980 Census Public-Use Microdata Sample. The results show that Asian intermarriage is affected by both assimilation and structural determinants. Some theoretically unexpected findings are discussed that hint at alternative interpretations.     

Comparing two types of navigational interfaces for Virtual Reality

Previous studies suggest significant differences between navigating virtual environments in a life-like walking manner (i.e., using treadmills or walk-in-place techniques) and virtual navigation (i.e., flying while really standing). The latter option, which usually involves hand-centric devices (e.g., joysticks), is the most common in Virtual Reality-based studies, mostly due to low costs, less space and technology demands. However, recently, new interaction devices, originally conceived for videogames have become available offering interesting potentialities for research. This study aimed to explore the potentialities of the Nintendo Wii Balance Board as a navigation interface in a Virtual Environment presented in an immersive Virtual Reality system. Comparing participants' performance while engaged in a simulated emergency egress allows determining the adequacy of such alternative navigation interface on the basis of empirical results. Forty university students participated in this study. Results show that participants were more efficient when performing navigation tasks using the Joystick than with the Balance Board. However there were no significantly differences in the behavioral compliance with exit signs. Therefore, this study suggests that, at least for tasks similar to the studied, the Balance Board have good potentiality to be used as a navigation interface for Virtual Reality systems.     

Methodological,Ideological, and Conceptual-Theoretical Criticisms of the Field of Collective Behavior: A Critical Evaluation and Implications for Future Study

Abstract

Criticisms of the field of collective behavior can be categorized as either methodological, ideological, or conceptual-theoretical. For methodological problems we examine the views that research on collective behavior is hampered because collective behavior is unpredictable, transitory, fluid, diffuse, complex, and uncontrolled. For ideological problems we look at the claims that the unsatisfactory state of the field of collective behavior is the result of its controversial material and lack of objectivity, defense of the status quo, trivialization of politics, and attributions of social pathology. For methodological and ideological criticisms, we conclude they are generally invalid or incorrect. A better strategy for improving collective behavior theory and research and advancing it closer to mainstream sociology is to focus on the conceptual-theoretical criticisms, for this tactic would have a greater pay off for sociology generally and collective behavior specifically.     

"Sustainable Development" as Collective Surge

The purpose of this article is to examine a surge in the sciences surrounding the use of the concept of sustainable development. Data come from the annual frequencies of publications in various disciplines that use the concept of sustainable development as well as from a content analysis of documents. The article concludes that the surge was characterized by the use by scientists of established concepts in a new way, a form of cultural emergence; a prevailing locus of interaction revolving around a professional ideology; the prevalence of the emotions of fear and hope of deliverance from the threat; and an international arena of discourse occurring over a period of years and bounded by class-professional identities. The article demonstrates that a newer understanding of fads as collective surges in the sociology specialty area of collective behavior helps describe the use in the sciences of the concept of sustainable development during the late 1980s and 1990s. The surge is relatively short-lived, coterminous with the use of different meanings and practices of sustainable development. It cannot be understood as a superficial, odd, inconsequential, or frivolous event. Rather, it had important, lasting consequences in a number of areas, from economic and social development to professions.