Reliance on sources of information for water-saving practices by irrigators in the High Plains of the U.S.A.

Who do farmers trust? Irrigators in the High Plains are confronted with a wide range of information sources with respect to water-saving practices. From a survey of 709 irrigators in 10 countries the most widely accepted sources are identified, regional variability of information is examined, the role of irrigator characteristics on source selection is determined, and the level of association between adoption and source preference is analyzed. Differences in irrigators' reliance on specific sources are more associated with location than irrigator characteristics. Information sources viewed as important by many irrigators frequently influence adoption decisions less than sources having a wide range of preference among irrigators. Mass media and advisor-oriented sources are much more significantly linked to adoption than inter-personal sources such as friends and neighbors. The three sources that best discriminate adoption behavior are private agricultural consulting firms, university research stations, and trade magazines.     

Middle class fractions, childcare and the 'relational' and 'normative' aspects of class practices

The emphasis in class research remains on the structural aspects of class, class processes are neglected. This paper focuses upon some relational and normative aspects of class through an examination of social divisions produced and constructed within middle class families’ choices of childcare. Working with data from two contrasting settings in London (Battersea and Stoke Newington) three issues are addressed in the paper; the extent to which childcare arrangements both substantively and structurally position children differently within long term educational careers; the ways in which the use of choice in a market system of child care and education, works to produce patterns of social closure that quietly discriminate via the collectivist criterion of class and racial membership; and the ways in which child care choices also point‐up and perpetuate subtle distinctions and tensions of values and lifestyle within the middle class, between class factions. Concepts drawn from the work of Bourdieu are deployed throughout.     

Issue Framing and Citizen Apathy Toward Local Environmental Contamination

We adapt the frame-alignment perspective in order to demonstrate how institutional framing shapes media coverage of a toxic crisis. This framing activity is described as a new approach to managing public responses to contamination that differs from the approach characterizing contamination episodes at Love Canal and Woburn, MA. Our analysis focuses on the process by which actors responsible for managing toxic crises carefully construct and manage a coordinated risk frame. We refer to this as institutional framing and illustrate how it shapes media framing of a toxic event. We conclude by proposing further research to identify the causal relationship between institutional framing and the absence of mobilization.     

Defining child abuse: Exploring variations in ratings of discipline severity among child welfare practitioners

This study investigated child welfare practitioners’ ratings of the severity of parental discipline practices. Ratings varied by the type of act, age of the child, and by chronicity. Exploratory investigation into changes across time found that current practitioners (N = 27) rated several practices (e.g. spanking and shaking) as more severe than did professionals (N = 24) sampled in 1977. Results underscore the complexity of defining child maltreatment and offer implications for practitioners, applied researchers, and child welfare policy makers.The authors Stephen D. Whitney, Emiko A. Tajima, Todd I. Herrenkohl, and Bu Huang are affiliated with the School of Social Work, University of Washington.Work on this project is supported by funds from the Social Work Prevention Research Center, School of Social Work, University of Washington (National Institute of Mental Health Grant R24MH56599, Lewayne Gilchrist, PI) and by the University of Washington Royalty Research Fund.     

A lower bound of the surviving rate of a planar graph with girth at least seven

Let G be a connected graph with n≥2 vertices. Suppose that a fire breaks out at a vertex v of G. A firefighter starts to protect vertices. At each time interval, the firefighter protects one vertex not yet on fire. At the end of each time interval, the fire spreads to all the unprotected vertices that have a neighbor on fire. Let sn(v) denote the maximum number of vertices in G that the firefighter can save when a fire breaks out at vertex v. The surviving rate ρ(G) of G is defined to be ∑ _v∈V(G)sn(v)/n ², which is the average proportion of saved vertices. In this paper, we show that if G is a planar graph with n≥2 vertices and having girth at least 7, then $\rho(G)>\frac{1}{301}$ .     

When bubbles burst: Mimetic insights into minimising confidentiality breaches

This paper presents a theoretical model to help managers visualise and manage confidential situations more effectively. The model metaphorically likens a confidential setting to the properties of a soap bubble, e.g. elastic expansion or contraction, minimal surface area to contain a given volume, fragility, surface tension, pressure, stress, strain and the potential for bursting thereby releasing the contents to the external environment. We explore the conceptual developments in two phases. Firstly, looking at how a bubble and confidential scenario form and grow. Secondly, we consider how a bubble may burst and map these forces to ways in which confidentiality may be breached. Many attributes are mapped, the key ones being: the embedded value within the system, the criticality of maintaining confidentiality, increasing pressure, the corresponding stress/strain dynamics and the levels of trust between stakeholders. Key research propositions are derived from the model which aims to minimise the risk of a confidentiality breach.     

Portfolio Analysis of Layered Security Measures

Layered defenses are necessary for protecting the public from terrorist attacks. Designing a system of such defensive measures requires consideration of the interaction of these countermeasures. In this article, we present an analysis of a layered security system within the lower Manhattan area. It shows how portfolios of security measures can be evaluated through portfolio decision analysis. Consideration is given to the total benefits and costs of the system. Portfolio diagrams are created that help communicate alternatives among stakeholders who have differing views on the tradeoffs between security and economic activity.