A prickly problem: developing a volunteer-friendly tool for monitoring populations of a terrestrial urban mammal,the West European hedgehog (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Erinaceus europaeus</Emphasis>)

Across Europe, hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) appear to be in decline in both urban and rural landscapes. Current methods used to monitor urban populations are, however, associated with several potential limitations. In this study, we conducted hedgehog footprint-tunnel surveys in 219 residential gardens across Reading, UK between May–September in 2013 and/or 2014; gardens were surveyed for five continuous days. Single-species occupancy models were used to investigate factors influencing hedgehog occupancy and two-species occupancy models were used to estimate a species interaction factor (SIF) between hedgehogs and (a) badgers (Meles meles), (b) foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and (c) dogs (Canis familiaris). The five-day survey protocol was associated with a false-absence error rate of 0.1–0.4%, indicating that it was a reliable method for determining hedgehog presence; conversely, 34.7% of householders were not able to correctly predict hedgehog presence or absence. Hedgehogs were widely distributed across Reading, but detected in only 32–40% of gardens. None of the within-garden or outside-garden factors investigated significantly affected hedgehog occupancy in the single-species models, but the two-species models indicated that badgers (SIF?=?0.471?±?0.188), but not foxes (SIF?=?0.954?±?0.048) or dogs (SIF?=?0.780?±?0.228), negatively affected the presence of hedgehogs in gardens, although not significantly. Overall, footprint-tunnels represent a viable field method for monitoring urban hedgehog populations, however, other approaches are required to identify factors that make gardens “hedgehog friendly”.     

Being counted? Examining the prevalence of looked‐after disabled children and young people across the UK

Since the 1970s, there has been growing academic interest in children and young people living in state care and, more recently, in the lives of disabled children. However, there has been little attention on the lives of disabled children who are looked after by the state. This paper compares and critiques what is known about the numbers of disabled children who are looked after in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. We discuss the conceptual and methodological limitations of systematically collecting data on disabled children in state care across the UK. We argue that to ensure that the rights of disabled children in state care are identified, acknowledged and upheld, ‘being counted’ is a fundamental first step.     

Workfare under Ontario Works: Making Sense of Jobless Work

Ontario Works is a provincial income assistance programme of last resort, operating under a workfare policy structure. Based on interviews with clients and staff (case managers, supervisors, managers and administrators), as well as an examination of policy directives, this article explores the work of workfare including claims making, training and resocialization, and employment internships. This article asks particularly how the work of workfare and the complex and costly workfare infrastructure is justified in the face of its failure to lead to employment. Findings include a contrast between the official story of an employment‐focused programme and workers' reports of spending far more time on eligibility than employment readiness. In addition, applying Gramsci's notion of ‘common sense’, an argument is developed that the normative justification for workfare is based not on the effectiveness of workfare programmes, but on the belief that clients need to exchange their work for welfare and self‐improvement so that they appear ‘employment ready’ even if not employed.     

Research with American Indian communities: The value of authentic partnerships

Developing evidence for practice is particularly difficult when attempting to accurately capture the experiences of diverse communities. In American Indian communities, the lack of communication between researchers and their subjects has been increasingly recognized. Recent adjustments to research methods, such as community-based participatory research (CBPR) have attempted to emphasize the importance of recognizing the needs and wishes of those studied. Yet, perhaps due to imperfect application, they may fall short in promoting participation and yielding accurate results. A number of fallacies can hinder successful use of the model including the assumption that ‘cultural sensitivity’ or even locating a project in the community of interest will open the door to successful engagement. Reality-based research was conceived to address these potential deficiencies. It builds on CBPR and is proposed as a means to more effectively develop a connection between American Indians who might benefit from the research relationship and the researchers themselves. An example of a reality-based research project on tobacco use is provided and steps for adopting this approach in child welfare are outlined. These steps set this article apart from other works seeking to address this issue and provide concrete practical assistance to researchers in the field.     

‘Brain circulation’ and transnational knowledge networks: studying long‐term effects of academic mobility to Germany, 1954–2000

‘Brain circulation’ has become a buzzword for describing the increasingly networked character of highly skilled migration. In this article, the concept is linked to academics' work on circular mobility to explore the long‐term effects of their research stays in Germany during the second half of the twentieth century. Based on original survey data on more than 1800 former visiting academics from 93 countries, it is argued that this type of brain circulation launched a cumulative process of subsequent academic mobility and collaboration that contributed significantly to the reintegration of Germany into the international scientific community after the Second World War and enabled the country's rise to the most important source for international co‐authors of US scientists and engineers in the twenty‐first century. In this article I discuss regional and disciplinary specificities in the formation of transnational knowledge networks through circulating academics and suggest that the long‐term effects can be fruitfully conceptualized as accumulation processes in ‘centres of calculation’.     

A Generalized Loss Function for Process Optimization

The use of loss functions for measuring the undesirability associated with failure to achieve target values for manufacturing product characteristics is widespread in industry. This study presents a generalization of one of the most commonly used loss functions and compares the two functions based on five theoretical criteria. A simulation involving multiple probability distributions for a single product characteristic is used to compare the performance of the loss functions. An example from the manufacture of helicopter transmission gears is used to empirically demonstrate the superiority of the generalized loss function over the conventional loss function.     

Unwelcoming communities: youth observations of racism in St. John's,Newfoundland and Labrador,Canada

While studies of racism have focused primarily on large urban centres, its effect on young visible minorities living in smaller centres has only recently been given increased attention. Using data collected from over 850 surveys, this article will analyse junior and senior high school students’ observations of racism. The results suggest that youth living in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada believe that racism is more as a problem at the provincial- and national-level despite overwhelming evidence that they have witnessed it at their school and in their city. While for these youth racism is both fluid and contextual, they also employ a number of strategies in order to appear non-racist.     

Contrasting soil nitrogen dynamics across a montane meadow and urban lawn in a semi-arid watershed

Urbanization substantially increases nitrogen (N) inputs and hydrologic losses relative to wildland ecosystems, although the fate of N additions to lawns and remnant grasslands remains contested. In montane semi-arid ecosystems, N cycling is often closely coupled to snowmelt (the dominant period of infiltration) and snow cover, which impact soil temperature and moisture. Here, we compared soil N dynamics between a fertilized and irrigated urban lawn and nearby riparian meadow in Salt Lake City, Utah during a snow manipulation experiment. Snow removal increased freeze/thaw events but did not affect N pools, microbial biomass, denitrification potential, or soil oxygen (O₂). Mineral N was similar between sites despite lawn fertilization, but dissolved organic N (DON) was four-fold greater (2.1 ± 0.1 mg N l^?1) in lawn soil water. Infiltration was lower in the lawn subsoil, and leaching losses (modeled with Hydrus) were small at both sites (< 2 kg N ha^?1 y^?1) despite substantial lawn fertilization. Lawn soil O₂ fluctuated between 20.9 and 1.6 % following snowmelt and irrigation, but remained near 20 % in the meadow; the lawn had more reducing microsites as indicated by iron speciation. Post-snowmelt potential denitrification was six-fold greater in the lawn than the meadow. Lawns can potentially provide hotspots of denitrification in a semi-arid landscape that exceed some natural riparian ecosystems, whereas DON may represent an increasingly important form of N loss from lawns.     

Intimate Partner Communication From the War Zone: A Prospective Study of Relationship Functioning,Communication Frequency,and Combat Effectiveness

This study examined (a) the association between relationship functioning prior to and during deployment, and the frequency of communication during deployment; and (b) the association between relationship functioning and depression during deployment and their influence on service members’ ratings of duty performance. Participants were 144 partnered Airmen assessed immediately before and during a one‐year high‐risk deployment to Iraq. Results showed an overall high frequency of partner communication during deployment. High relationship distress at predeployment predicted lower frequency of communication during deployment. Changes in relationship distress from before deployment to during deployment independently predicted frequency of communication, above and beyond predeployment distress levels. Level of relationship distress and depression during deployment independently predicted service members’ ratings of impact on duty performance.     

Researching social care for minority ethnic older people: implications of some Scottish research

Summary The paper explores issues raised by research on patterns ofwelfare and mutual care among older Pakistani people and theirfamilies, with particular reference to their use, or lack ofuse of social care services. Qualitative interviews were conductedwith (self-defined) minority ethnic older people, professionalsin statutory services and in minority-led community-based groups.The organization of services is discussed, with special referenceto issues of power and control, the role of the voluntary (non-profit)and statutory sectors, the debate regarding the possible needfor specialist versus generic services, and the role of minority-ledinitiatives. Secondly, issues of service staffing are examined,and the dangers of marginalizing minority services and staffreviewed, especially with reference to divisions of labour inservice provision and staff's own perspectives. Thirdly, themethodological implications of the work are explores, includingissues of linguistic and cultural communication and workingwith relatively powerless social groups, whose views are sought.Examining the views of professional social care workers is alsoproblematized, with reference to their gate-keeping role. Itis argued that user perspectives are essential to the developmentof appropriate services for minority ethnic groups. In conclusion,the need to raise these issues in other work is discussed.