Principles that underpin effective school-based drug education

This study identifies the conceptual underpinnings of effective school-based drug education practice in light of contemporary research evidence and the practical experience of a broad range of drug education stakeholders. The research involved a review of the literature, a national survey of 210 Australian teachers and others involved in drug education, and structured interviews with 22 key Australian drug education policy stakeholders. The findings from this research have been distilled and presented as a list of 16 principles that underpin effective drug education. In broad terms, drug education should be evidence-based, developmentally appropriate, sequential, and contextual. Programs should be initiated before drug use commences. Strategies should be linked to goals and should incorporate harm minimization. Teaching should be interactive and use peer leaders. The role of the classroom teacher is central. Certain program content is important, as is social and resistance skills training. Community values, the social context of use, and the nature of drug harm have to be addressed. Coverage needs to be adequate and supported by follow-up. It is envisaged that these principles will provide all those involved in the drug education field with a set of up-to-date, research-based guidelines against which to reference decisions on program design, selection, implementation, and evaluation.     

Out of machine age?: complexity, sociotechnical systems and actor network theory

This paper compares sociotechnical systems (STS) theory and actor network theory (ANT) as developed by Latour, Callon and Law. We examine how STS and ANT can be viewed as responses to rationalist/functionalist research on large sociotechnical systems and as extensions and elaborations of pragmatist/culturalist frameworks developed in sociology and anthropology. We reexamine, from an actor network perspective, Trist and Bamforth’s seminal article in which the concept of a sociotechnical system was introduced. We also discuss how STS ideas on interactive planning can be combined with concepts from ANT to investigate interdependent processes of invention and innovation in large sociotechnical networks.     

Advancing Theory and Research and the British Journal of Management

In an ecosystem of management journals dominated by US heavyweights, the British Journal of Management (BJM) assumes a unique role. There is no other European business and management journal of the standing and stature of this journal that seeks both to be multidisciplinary and to appeal to a general readership of business and management scholars. This is a tribute to the efforts of previous editorial teams. At the same time, the journal faces the challenge of remaining relevant both to the immediate British Academy of Management community and to the wider scholarly one, while raising its own game in pioneering and leading debates, and in global esteem.     

Progress on a conjecture regarding the triangular distribution

Triangular distributions are a well-known class of distributions that are often used as an elementary example of a probability model. Maximum likelihood estimation of the mode parameter of the triangular distribution over the unit interval can be performed via an order statistic based method. It had been conjectured that such a method can be conducted using only a constant number of likelihood function evaluations, on average, as the sample size becomes large. We prove two theorems that validate this conjecture. Graphical and numerical results are presented to supplement our proofs.     

Young Mother (in the) Hood: Gang Girls' Negotiation of New Identities

This article examines the experiences of young women in street gangs who become mothers. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 65 young women in the San Francisco, CA, Bay Area, we examine their narratives about the transition to motherhood. In particular, we focus on the ways these young women negotiate femininities and attempt to reconcile their identities as young mothers and gang girls-both stigmatized identities. For many of the young women, motherhood entails a retreat from the street and a renewed emphasis on time spent in the home. While many receive (financial and childcare) support from their families, this also often means a diminution of the autonomy they experienced while more heavily involved in the gang. Issues of respect and respectability remain important for the young women, but the dimensions on which these are based change.     

Spatial prediction of crystalline defects observed in molecular dynamic simulations of plastic damage

Molecular dynamic computer simulation is an essential tool in materials science to study atomic properties of materials in extreme environments and guide development of new materials. We propose a statistical analysis to emulate simulation output with the ultimate goal of efficiently approximating the computationally intensive simulation. We compare several spatial regression approaches including conditional autoregression (CAR), discrete wavelets transform (DWT), and principle components analysis (PCA). The methods are applied to simulation of copper atoms with twin wall and dislocation loop defects, under varying tilt tension angles. We find that CAR and DWT yield accurate results but fail to capture extreme defects, yet PCA better captures defect structure.     

Social-ecological science in the humane metropolis

The Humane metropolis is a rubric to summarize and promote environmental and social quality in contemporary urban mosaics. Because cities, suburbs, and exurbs, as spatially extensive and connected socio-ecological systems, exhibit many negative features, the humane metropolis identifies a strategy to combat the ills and instill more positive and sustainable features and processes in urban systems. Because the humane metropolis as a program has arisen primarily from social motivations, there is the opportunity to articulate more explicitly the role that science can play in addressing the humane metropolis program and evaluating its success. A humane metropolis can be summarized as one that 1) protects and restores ecological services in cities and suburbs, 2) promotes physical and mental health and safety of residents, 3) enhances efficiency by conserving energy, matter, water, and time, 4) facilitates equity by being inclusive, as well as socially and environmentally just, and 5) maintains a sense of community and a sense of place. We clarify the nature of science as a contributor to the social program, pointing out the social values motivating science, and the role that scientific knowledge and metaphor play in linking science with the social program of the humane metropolis. We further identify roles that socio-ecological research can play in meeting the goals of the humane metropolis. We use examples of environmental history, watershed function and restoration, and environmental justice research and action from the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, Long-Term Ecological Research program. The humane metropolis as a social program benefits from scientific contributions that 1) expose hidden ecological processes in urban systems, 2) generate knowledge connecting people and institutions to the biophysical environment, 3) contribute to the civic dialog, and 4) bring scientific values to the prioritization and balancing of the goals of the humane metropolis.