The balance of planting and mortality in a street tree population

Street trees have aesthetic, environmental, human health, and economic benefits in urban ecosystems. Street tree populations are constructed by cycles of planting, growth, death, removal and replacement. The goals of this study were to understand how tree mortality and planting rates affect net population growth, evaluate the shape of the mortality curve, and assess selected risk factors for survival. We monitored a street tree population in West Oakland, CA for 5 years after an initial inventory (2006). We adapted the classic demographic balancing equation to quantify annual inputs and outputs to the system, tracking pools of live and standing dead trees. There was a 17.2 % net increase in live tree counts during the study period (995 in 2006, 1166 in 2011), with population growth observed each year. Of the live trees in 2006, 822 survived to 2011, for an annual mortality rate of 3.7 %. However, population growth was constrained by high mortality of young/small trees. Annual mortality was highest for small trees, and lower for mid-size and large trees; this represents a Type III mortality curve. We used multivariate logistic regression to evaluate the relationship between 2011 survival outcomes and inventory data from 2006. In the final model, significant associations were found for size class, foliage condition, planting location, and a multiplicative interaction term for size and foliage condition. Street tree populations are complex cultivated systems whose dynamics can be understood by a combination of longitudinal data and demographic analysis. Urban forest monitoring is important to understand the impact of tree planting programs.     

Psychosocial and Environmental Determinants of Eating Behaviors,Physical Activity,and Weight Change Among College Students: A Qualitative Analysis

Abstract

Objective: The goal of this study was to identify factors that college students perceived as contributing to healthy and unhealthy eating patterns, physical activity (PA) levels, and weight change. Participants: Forty-nine 18- to 22-year-old students at a midwestern university participated. Methods: Six focus groups (3 with each gender) were conducted, and data were analyzed using qualitative software to code and categorize themes and then reduce these to clusters according to commonly practiced methods of qualitative analysis. Results: Eating and PA behaviors appear to be determined by a complex interplay between motivations and self-regulatory skills as well as the unique social and physical environment comprising college life. Moreover, there appear to be gender differences in how these determinants impact behavior. Conclusions: Future research should examine these interactions in the college context in order to further our understanding of potential interventions or environmental modifications that support healthy eating and PA.     

Self-perceived health status,gender, and work status

ABSTRACT

This study analyzes the relationship between gender and self-perceived health status in Spanish retirees and housewives from a sample of 1,106 community-dwelling older adults. A multivariate linear regression model was used in which self-perceived health status was measured by the EQ-5D visual analogue scale and gender according to work status (retired men and women and housewives). Retired males reported a significantly better health status than housewives. Self-perceived health status was closely associated with physical, mental, and functional health and leisure activities. Finally, being a woman with complete dedication to domestic work is associated with a worse state of self-perceived health.     

Who Delays Childbearing? The Associations Between Time to First Birth,Personality Traits and Education

Using data from a large-scale survey, the British Household Panel Survey, this paper assesses the influence of personality traits on the timing of first childbirth and investigates whether, and in what way, personality traits explain the differences in maternity timing across educational groups. We estimate a log-logistic model of the time to first childbirth and show that there is a statistically significant relationship between the Big Five personality traits and the timing of motherhood. The results also show that highly qualified women who are ‘open-minded’ have the lowest hazards of childbirth, lower than similar less educated counterparts.     

When it pays to be friendly: employment relationships and emotional labour in hairstyling

This article examines worker‐client relationships in hairstyling. Data are drawn from interviews with 15 hourly‐paid and 32 self‐employed hairstylists and a self‐administered survey. Relations of employment are found to be central to the deployment of emotional labour. Self‐employed owner‐operators are highly dependent on clients, rely on deep‐acting, enact favours, and are prone to emotional breaking points when they fail to realise their ‘congealed service’. In contrast, hourly‐paid stylists perform surface acting, resist unpaid favours and experience fewer breaking points. Methodologically this article demonstrates the importance of comparative employment relations analysis (CERA) for exposing the relationship between employment structures and labour process experiences.     

It's Not Just Being Popular,it's Knowing it,too: The Role of Self‐perceptions of Status in the Associations between Peer Status and Aggression

Moderators of the well‐established association between status and overt and relational aggression were tested in a four‐year longitudinal sample (N = 358) of high school students. Self‐perceptions of popularity were found to moderate the link between actual peer‐perceived popularity and aggression, with adolescents who were both popular and aware of their popular status, scoring highest on peer‐nominated aggression and showing the greatest increases in aggression over time. Self‐perceptions of liking moderated the associations between social preference and aggression as well. Adolescents who saw themselves as disliked were particularly likely to show increases in aggression over time. The moderating effect of self‐perceptions was further moderated by gender in several cases. Findings are discussed in light of Coie's theory of the development of peer status theory. The social‐cognitive elements of high peer status, particularly of perceived popularity, are also highlighted.     

Discrete Trial Instruction vs. Mand Training for Teaching Children With Autism to Make Requests

The present study compared the effects of discrete trial instruction (DTI) and mand training on the acquisition of independent requests in 6 children with autism. Two multiple-probe designs across participants were conducted with 3 participants receiving mand training followed by DTI and the other 3 receiving DTI followed by mand training. Eye contact and challenging behaviors were also assessed across conditions. Results indicate that 5 of 6 participants made more independent requests and acquired requesting faster in the mand training condition, had slightly better eye contact in the DTI condition, and fewer challenging behaviors in the mand training condition. Overall, the results indicate that mand training is a more efficient method for teaching children with autism to make requests.     

Is Being Popular a Risky Proposition?

Longitudinal associations between social preference, perceived popularity, and risk behaviors (smoking, alcohol use, and sexual activity) were examined in a sample of high school students. Social preference did not predict any of the risk behaviors assessed, although the interaction between gender and social preference was predictive of sexual behavior. Perceived popularity in Grade 10 was predictive of increased alcohol use and sexual activity in Grade 12 for both boys and girls. A reciprocal relationship was found for boys, in which smoking in Grade 10 also predicted gains in perceived popularity over time. Furthermore, results suggested that gains in perceived popularity may be associated with subsequent losses in social preference over time, lending support for the “cycle of popularity” observed by Eder. Implications are discussed, including the personal impact of risk behaviors on perceived popular teens, as well as the broader influence their behavior may have on their less popular counterparts.