Urban impacts on tropical island streams: Some key aspects influencing ecosystem response

Improving our understanding of the impacts of urbanization on tropical island streams is critical as urbanization becomes a dominant feature in tropical areas. Although the ??urban stream syndrome?? has been successful in summarizing urban impacts on streams, the response of some island streams is different to that expected. Here we review available information on urban impacts to tropical island streams and describe unique responses to urbanization. We identified three key aspects that play particularly important or unique roles in determining tropical-island stream integrity: biotic response to water pollution, movement barriers along the stream network, and altered geomorphology that results in habitat loss. As expected, water pollution negatively impacts stream ecosystems in tropical islands and in some regions impacts can be severe, as untreated wastewaters are directly discharged into streams. While aquatic insects show the expected responses to pollution, other native fauna (e.g., shrimps and fishes) appear to be less impacted by moderate levels of pollution. Movement barriers along the stream network are especially important as much of the tropical island fauna have diadromous (either amphidromous or catadromous) life histories. Most native freshwater mollusks, shrimps, and fishes inhabiting tropical islands are diadromous and depend on unimpeded connections between freshwater and marine environments to complete their life cycles. The presence of these species in urban streams is best explained by longitudinal connectivity rather than by the degree of urban impact. Finally, in streams that remain connected to marine environments, the presence of native shrimps and fishes is strongly related to the physical habitat. Fish assemblages in channelized and severely altered stream reaches are almost completely devoid of native fauna and tend to be dominated by non-native species. In contrast, relatively diverse shrimp and fish assemblages can be found in reaches that retain their physical habitat complexity, even when they are impacted by urbanization. Our understanding of urban impacts on tropical island streams remains limited. However, the identification of key aspects can help us better understand urban impacts on streams in tropical islands, and best focus our management and research efforts to protect these unique ecosystems.     

Gender,Field, and Habitus: How Gendered Dispositions Reproduce Fields of Cultural Production

Bourdieu argues that fields of action produce a specific habitus in participants, and views this specific habitus as a mechanism through which the field is reproduced. Although Bourdieu acknowledges the habitus as gendered, he does not theorize gender as part of the mutually constitutive relationship between field and habitus. Using evidence from two cultural fields, the Toronto heavy metal and folk music scenes, I show that gender is central to the process through which field and habitus sustain each other. The metal field produces a “metalhead habitus” that privileges gender performances centered on individual dominance and status competition. In contrast, the “folkie habitus” encourages gender performances centered on caring, emotional relations with others, and community‐building. These differently gendered habitus support different working conventions: music production occurs largely through volunteer‐based nonprofit organizations in the folk field, and individual entrepreneurship in the metal field. The gendered habitus also supports different stylistic conventions: guitar virtuosity in the metal field, and participatory music‐making in folk. Applying a gendered lens to the field–habitus relationship clarifies the mechanisms through which cultural fields shape individual action, and the mechanisms through which cultural fields are reproduced and maintained.     

Adoption in Clinical Psychology: A Review of the Absence, Ramifications, and Recommendations for Change

Practicing clinical psychologists reported that 5 to 10% of their patients are adoption triad members (Sass & Henderson, 1999) and yet recent studies concluded that the majority of psychologists are not being taught about adoption-related issues in their preservice raining (Post, 1999; Sass & Henderson, 1999). This article discusses the need for training on adoption in the context of the APA Guidelines and Principles for Accreditation of Programs in Professional Psychology; Domain D, which states that programs must provide students with relative knowledge and experiences about the role of cultural and individual diversity in psychological phenomenon as they relate to the science and practice of professional psychology (1996, p. 15), the omission of adoption from curricula, and potential ramifications of this absence.     

Accommodating diverse clients' needs in evaluation capacity building: A case study of the Tobacco Control Evaluation Center

In this case study, we detail and analyze how the Tobacco Control Evaluation Center (TCEC), an evaluation technical assistance center that serves approximately 100 local tobacco control organizations in California, endeavors to build capacity among the state-funded local providers it serves by using evaluation capacity building activities with an utilization-focused evaluation framework. We call this a "blended approach" and describe these methods. Satisfaction and demand for TCEC services are documented to provide measurements for evaluation capacity building. Final evaluation report scores from two intervention cycles (2004-2007 and 2007-2010) submitted to the California Health Department, Tobacco Control Division are also assessed and compared. These measures demonstrate an increase in evaluation capacity by local projects under TCEC's purview.     

Some Outstanding Issues in the Debate on External Promotion of Land Privatisation

Since the early 1990s, the dominant consensus in the debate on land rights reform in sub‐Saharan Africa has been that external interventions to privatise land rights are usually inappropriate and likely to remain so. This article suggests that two elements in the debate – the scope for varying adjudication criteria, procedures and support systems in order to enhance equity, and the influence of a region's agro‐ecological and socioeconomic characteristics on the impacts of tenure change – merit further attention. The article urges a shift towards a more pragmatic approach, sensitive to the diversity of both physical and socio‐economic conditions within which tenure systems operate. Illustrative evidence is drawn from a relatively low‐potential farming region in eastern Kenya.     

Some new factor screening designs using the search linear model

Factor screening designs for searching two and three effective factors using the search linear model are discussed. The construction of such factor screening designs involved finding a fraction with small number of treatments of a 2^m factorial experiment having the property P_2t (no 2t columns are linearly dependent) for t=2 and 3. A ‘Packing Problem’ is introduced in this connection. A complete solution of the problem in one case and partial solutions for the other cases are presented. Many practically useful new designs are listed.     

Perspectives on Corporate Control: Implications for CEO Compensation

This study examines the influence on CEO paypractices of four corporate control perspectives:managerial control, class hegemony, external control,and efficient market. The results indicate the influence of both market and extra-market controls on thedetermination of CEO pay levels and criteria.Implications for the governance of firms and the studyof corporate control are drawn.