Invasive <Emphasis Type="Italic">Wisteria</Emphasis> in the Southeastern United States: genetic diversity,hybridization and the role of urban centers

The increasing numbers and negative impacts of invasive species have prompted research on the relationship between human activities and the success of invasive horticultural plants. In this study, we use population genetic relationships to model the escape of a common garden vine, exotic Wisteria, into natural habitats. Urban and naturalized Wisteria populations in Charleston, South Carolina and Tallahassee, Florida were investigated using a combination of chloroplast, mitochondrial and nuclear DNA markers. Fifty-nine of 72 (81.9%) Wisteria collections were hybrids of Wisteria sinensis and W. floribunda. Chi-square analysis of the distribution of shared W. floribunda haplotypes among naturalized and urban populations supports the relationship of time with invasion success. Naturalized populations were more similar to those in historic neighborhoods. The most common haplotype, F1, was encountered 22 times but its distribution was not significantly different between urban and naturalized populations. In contrast, a significantly higher proportion of haplotype F2 found in naturalized populations suggests that selection may also be acting within these populations. Finally, due to extensive human dispersal, there is no relationship between genetic distance and geographical distance among the populations sampled. We conclude that Wisteria’s long history of horticulture, rampant hybridization, and human-aided dispersal are all implicated in the successful ability of these plants to invade natural habitats throughout the USA.     

Quality of life perceptions in two cultures

This paper reports and analyzes the quality of life perceptions held by the inhabitants of two culturally different but demographically similar cities: Springfield, Illinois and Aix-en-Provence, France. Although the Springfielders expressed greater satisfaction than the Aixois in virtually all the life domains covered by the research, the areas of relative satisfaction and dissatisfaction were remarkably similar in the two cities; furthermore, the domains in which the French indicated the least satisfaction were generally ones where their objective quality of life conditions were inferior to those of their American counterparts. Multiple regression techniques are used to trace the relative contribution of domain satisfactions and demographic characteristics in explaining respondents' comparative life enjoyment and reported levels of happiness.     

COMPARING MEDICAL AND GRADUATE SCHOOL TRAINING: A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE

In this paper the author subjectively compares his experiences in medicla school, psychiatric residency training, and an AAMFT -accredited PhD program in marriage and family therapy. The goal is to stimulate thinking on the nature of training and professional identity. This is done by marking assumptions regarding training overt which usually go unrecognized and unchallenged, Differences and similarities between the two programs of training are high-lighted and discussed. It is proposed that the primary objective of professional traininjg is to learn how to apply knowledge while the primary objective of graduate training is to learn how to question knowledge.     

Regression Estimation of Crop Acreages With Transformed Landsat Data as Auxiliary Variables

Methods are developed for combining data collected by satellite with data collected in an area survey to estimate crop acreages. The basic procedure is that of survey regression estimation. Two methods of transforming the satellite information prior to regression estimation are compared.     

Analytical Characterization of the Information Matrix for Split-Plot Designs

This article provides the analytical characterization of the inverse of the information matrix for second-order SPD. A particular feature of these explicit expressions is that they are functions of the design parameters enabling the development of analytical functions to efficiently compute exact design optimality criteria. The application of these analytical expressions is demonstrated using the generalized variance of the parameter estimates for second-order SPD. An example illustrating the use of these expressions is also presented.     

A Study of the Relationship between Mitral Valve Prolapse and Personality Characteristics

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between mitral valve prolapse (MVP) and personality characteristics. A sample of women with MVP was compared on the Cattell Sixteen Personality Factors Questionnaire (16 PF) with the norm group. The MVP group was found to be significantly different from the general population on a number of personality characteristics. The most important difference was in both first-and second-order anxiety and indicates the possibility that MVP patients may have more psychological difficulties than the general population. The importance of addressing the anxiety problem in the treatment of MVP is discussed.     

Economics,ecology and entropy: The second law of thermodynamics and the limits to growth

The second law of thermodynamics has played an important role in ecological economics as providing a justification for the view that economies have limits to growth. Yet beyond basic textbooks statements of this law, we seldom find informed philosophical examinations of the meaning and metaphysical justification for the second law. In this paper we shall examine some challenges which have been made to the limits to growth (Limitationist) position by those criticizing the scope and application of the second law of thermodynamics and we shall in turn defend Limitationism against these criticisms.     

Research into the psychological contract: Two Australian perspectives

Despite their increasing relevance, employees' psychological contracts have attracted little research attention in Australia. The present paper presents two studies, which examined the psychological contracts of specific cohorts of professional employees and those in a managerial career track. The first study was an in-depth qualitative investigation of research scientists in an Australian public sector research organisation. They were found to have a strong professional affiliation and had developed psychological contracts that were best understood by reference to the ‘ideological currency’ of the scientific community. The second study was a quantitative examination of 156 MBA students at an Australian university, and how their psychological contracts could be related to perceptions of the contextual variables of organisational justice, perceived organisational support and external employability. Organisational justice and perceived organisational support were found to be related to the nature of the psychological contracts measured, but perceptions of external employability were not.     

A “Subterranean Agenda”? Racial Attitudes, Presidential Evaluations, and Tea Party Membership

Recent research suggests that fiscally conservative policy preferences and disapproval of President Obama are significant predictors of Tea Party membership (Maxwell and Parent 2012). Unfortunately, however, we know very little about the reasons why Tea Party members so aggressively disapprove of President Obama. While Tea Party members adamantly deny that President Obama’s race plays any role in their motivations, their critics argue that racial attitudes are a primary reason why individuals choose to join the movement. In this article, using national survey data conducted by Knowledge Networks (n = 1649), we explore the possibility that three unique racial attitudes have been influential in the establishment of the Tea Party. Specifically, we investigate the role of symbolic racism, racial stereotypes, and ethnocentrism as predictors of self-identified Tea Party membership among whites.