Analysis of breeding bird communities along an urban-rural gradient in Berlin,Germany, by Hasse Diagram Technique

Breeding bird communities in Berlin were investigated at five study sites, which represent an structural urban-rural gradient, from densely built-up areas with sealed ground to green areas such as large parks. In this paper, we tested the Hasse Diagram Technique (HDT), an approach belonging to partial order theory, for its appropriateness to extract information about changes in species composition from our data set. As expected, the overall number of bird species was positively correlated with the urban-rural gradient, increasing from 12 found in the city center to 28 in an urban park. By HDT analysis, four different sub-groups of birds could be identified, contributing differentially to the increase in species number: (1) ubiquists, i.e., species found at each study site, (2) a sub-group, the species’ number of which was positively correlated with the urban-rural gradient, increasing with increasingly green areas, (3) a sub-group, the species’ number of which was negatively correlated with the urban-rural gradient, decreasing with a declining density of buildings, and (4) species, the distribution of which did not show any correlation with the urban-rural gradient. The results show that HDT is a suitable tool for formalized analysis of the pattern of species’ communities along an environmental gradient.     

Credibility of PR practitioners: The impact of professional journalism background on trustworthiness,expertness, and homophily evaluations

This study demonstrates that a professional journalism background contributes to the credibility evaluations of public relations practitioners in regards to expertness and the capability to meet journalistic values and expectations. However, having a professional journalism background does not necessarily render public relations practitioners any more trustworthy than not having such credentials.     

Complexity and Self‐Sustainment in Disaster Response Supply Chains

Governmental organizations play a major role in disaster relief operations. Supply chains set up to respond to disasters differ dramatically in many dimensions that affect the cost of relief efforts. One factor that has been described recently is self‐sustainment, which occurs when supplies consumed by intermediate stages of a supply chain must be provided via the chain itself because they are not locally available. This article applies the concept of self‐sustainment to response supply chains. A mathematical model of a self‐sustaining response supply chain is developed. Analysis of this model yields insights about the relationships and interactions among self‐sustainment, speed of disaster onset, dispersion of impact, and the cost of the relief efforts.     

Community Reactions to Young People Who Have Sexually Abused and Their Families: A Shotgun Blast,Not a Rifle Shot

Data on 117 young sexual abusers were examined to investigate the nature of community responses to young people's abusive behaviour. A wide range of community responses were found, with stigmatisation, social isolation and collateral damage being common. A contagion effect was noted, with community responses extending over time and across contexts. Some young offenders and their families were attacked and forced out of their homes. In some cases, community responses heightened risk factors. The policy and practice implications of the findings are discussed, including the need for caution about the inclusion of children in policies on community notification of sex offenders.     

Does Uncertainty of Firing Costs Reduce Hirings?

This paper examines hiring decision under uncertainty of firing costs. We extend the labor demand problem of the firm to account for a random shock that hits the firing cost function. We also consider recursive preferences for the employer in order to separate risk aversion from intertemporal substitution. We find that a rise of the variance of the shock decreases hiring investment if and only if the intertemporal elasticity of substitution is greater than one. The risk aversion parameter does not determine the sign of the uncertainty effect but only its magnitude.     

Examining reports and policies on cognitive enhancement: approaches, rationale, and recommendations

The phenomenon of cognitive enhancement is attracting attention in bioethics literature and beyond, in public policy. In response, three bodies--the British Medical Association (BMA); the Commission de l'éthique de la Science et de la technologie (CEST) du Québec; the American Academy of Neurology (AAN)--have produced reports and guidance on this topic. To gain insights into different public policy approaches, rationales, and recommendations on the topic, we analyzed these reports in depth. We found convergence on the definition (with the exception of the CEST) of cognitive enhancement. However, we noted a lack of critical reflection with respect to the underlying rationale for developing these reports, i.e., that cognitive enhancement practices are rampant and represent major social changes. As it currently stands, cognitive enhancement is constituted in a way that challenges the creation of coherent and effective policy recommendations. However, policy makers should not simply wait for definitional consensus and hope that on balance the benefits turn out to be greater than the risks. Some components of cognitive enhancement could be reduced down to clearly identified policy targets to be further examined. Then, if appropriate, policy should be created that is, amongst other criteria, beneficial to the majority of the population.     

Distance sampling methodology

We consider the method of distance sampling described by Buckland, Anderson, Burnham and Laake in 1993. We explore the properties of the methodology in simple cases chosen to allow direct and accessible comparisons of distance sampling in the design- and model-based frameworks. In particular, we obtain expressions for the bias and variance of the distance sampling estimator of object density and for the expected value of the recommended analytic variance estimator within each framework. These results enable us to clarify aspects of the performance of the methodology which may be of interest to users and potential users of distance sampling.