Using Weight of Evidence Characterization and Modeling to Investigate the Cause of the Changes in Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasi) Population Dynamics in Puget Sound and at Cherry Point,Washington

The decline of the Cherry Point Pacific herring stock (CPPHS) has been a puzzle of the upper Puget Sound. In this study, age‐structured population modeling was used to examine the timing and scale of the dynamics of Pacific herring stocks throughout the Puget Sound region. The intrinsic rate of increase and equilibrium age structure was calculated and forecast models were created for the stocks found in Puget Sound. We demonstrate that the causative agent for the decline of the CPPHS and the collapse in age structure existed in the 1974–1975 timeframe. Similarly, Puget Sound Pacific herring stocks at Squaxin Pass, Discovery Bay, and Port Gamble also demonstrate a collapse in age structure as seen in CPPHS during that same period. The data from the mid 1980s to 2006 demonstrate that all stocks share the collapse in age structure. The conclusion is that the causative agent had to affect these stocks at a scale corresponding to the Puget Sound; the effect has lasted over a 30‐year period, and was essentially simultaneous across the region. Forecast modeling of the stocks indicates that given current conditions none of the stocks are likely to show an increase in population size. The results were used to examine the likelihood that the Eastern Pacific decadal oscillation, disease, and persistent organic pollutants are singularly or in concert the causative agents. A research program is suggested to determine the cause(s).     

Divorce and Adult Psychological Well‐Being: Clarifying the Role of Gender and Child Age

Substantial evidence indicates that marital dissolution has negative consequences for adult well‐being. Because most research focuses on the average consequences of divorce, we know very little about factors that moderate this association. The present study tests the hypothesis that the effects of marital dissolution on adult well‐being are greatest for those with young children in the home at the time of marital dissolution. Analysis of data from the National Survey of Families and Households (N= 4,811 men and women married at the baseline interview) supports this hypothesis, especially among women. For women without young children, marital dissolution appears to have few negative consequences for psychological well‐being. Differential exposure to secondary stressors that accompany marital dissolution partly explains these patterns.     

National art and Britain made real: the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony

Danny Boyle's opening ceremony for the London 2012 Olympics presented an extraordinary spectacle to the watching world. This article is about what it said to people in Britain, how it said it and why. By comparing (1) Boyle's version of a new Jerusalem with William Blake's ‘Jerusalem’, and (2) the content of the ceremony with the realisation of Britain in works of art around Blake's time as analysed in Anthony D. Smith's The Nation Made Real, it is possible to see how Boyle reworks old themes and where he breaks new ground. There follow discussions of the ceremony's reception according to polling evidence, its broad-left political message, and the singular character of an event that sparked something akin to a moment of ‘collective effervescence’.     

Hope as a form of agency in the future thinking of disenfranchised young people

This paper examines future thinking in a group of disenfranchised young Australians. We draw on literature about individualisation and choice biographies to understand participants’ narratives. Participants that managed to narrate a future expressed strong desires to be ‘normal’, articulating futures marked by traditional indicators: a job, home and family. Yet, their narratives of future were specific to the minimal opportunity structures available to them – a prioritising of paid employment with little concern about the type of work done, a home that was secure but not owned and, often, a wish to regain custody of children. Significantly, many participants could not articulate a future beyond their present circumstances. The uncertainties of their lives shaped their future thinking, through their lack of capital but also through deficit views of themselves as possessing few choices. But, while there was no ‘choice-making’, there was agency: they hoped for something better such as to live securely and to be happier. We suggest that sociological thought pursue a closer understanding of how hope operates in young lives and how it shapes future practice and trajectories. We propose that one way forward is to consider hope as a form of agency conceptualised through relational theories of practice.     

Work patterns and marital status change

The impact of marital status changes on the lives of adults and children has increased importance as marriage, divorce, and remarriage have become more frequent patterns of family composition change. These events can often be predicted by the family members involved so that they may be accompanied by changes in labor market activity prior to the events themselves. The study reported here uses panel data to examine the labor market activity changes that precede marital status changes. Women who become divorced increase hours of work in the year or two before the divorce occurs, and women who become remarried decrease hours of work in the year of the remarriage and thereafter. For men there seems to be little change in labor supply during these years. However, hours of housework for men do seem to change.This research has been supported by the United States Department of Agriculture through the New York Agricultural Experiment Station under Southern Regional Project S-206. The data utilized in this work were made available in part by the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research. The data were originally collected by James N. Morgan, et al. The contents of this article do not necessarily reflect the view of the Inter-University Consortium or the institutions with which the researchers are affiliated. We wish to especially thank Robert Avery for his helpful comments throughout this research and Veronica Abel for her able research assistance.Jennifer L. Gerner is Associate Professor, Department of Consumer Economics and Housing, 137 Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. Her research interests include the economics of the family and family organization. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. Catherine Phillips Montalto is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Consumer Economics and Housing, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. Her research interests include the economic behavior of households. W. Keith Bryant is Professor and Chair of the Department of Consumer Economics and Housing, 117D Martha Van Rensselaer, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. He received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University.     

A portrait of America's children: The impact of poverty and a call to action

The responsibility for children's services is disseminated between a multitude of advocacy organizations, social service agencies, and numerous departments within our government. A lack of conceptual integration and fiscal commitment is evident at the federal, state, and local levels. The examination of poverty and children's lack of economic security, inadequate medical care, homelessness, and nutrition inadequacies reveals a portrait of America's children that is both unsettling and alarming. The paper concludes with a call for action and the commitment that will be required to rectify this problem.     

A microcosm study of the common night crawler earthworm (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Lumbricus terrestris</Emphasis>) and physical,chemical and biological properties of a designed urban soil

Designed soils are used in specialized urban areas, such as under sidewalks or on roof-tops. These substrates have coarse light-weight aggregates to meet load-bearing specifications with soil in voids for rooting medium. A full-factorial microcosm approach was used to study Lumbricus terrrestris (two adult worms added and no-worms added), compaction (bulk density of 1.95 and 1.48 g cm⁻³), and litter (litter and no-litter additions) in a designed soil. Earthworm biomass, soil physical, chemical, and biological properties, anion leaching and surface C efflux was measured on days 0, 7, 14, 21, 28, 72, 112, and 140. Earthworms decreased bulk density in compacted soil, but did not impact density of un-compacted soil. Earthworm biomass increased days 7 to 14, but declined from days 28 to 140, likely as result of the abrasiveness of the aggregate component and relatively shallow depth of the soil (25 cm). During the period of increasing earthworm biomass, surface C efflux, microbial biomass N, soil Ca²⁺ and NH₄⁺ increased with earthworms. During the period of declining earthworm biomass, surface C efflux, microbial biomass N, soil Ca²⁺ and NO₃⁻, and leachate NO₃⁻ increased, and soil pH decreased with earthworms. While alive and dying, Lumbricus terrestris stimulated microbial activity and biomass and nutrient availability, but an apparent shift to nitrification was observed as earthworm biomass declined. The results show Lumbricus terrestris to improve designed soil properties for plants, but the improvements may be short-lived due to the inability of these earthworms to survive in the designed soil.     

Efficacy of a web-based, tailored, alcohol prevention/intervention program for college students: 3-month follow-up

This study presents the results of an efficacy evaluation of a web-based brief motivational alcohol prevention/intervention program called Michigan Prevention and Alcohol Safety for Students (M-PASS). Four on-line sessions providing individually-tailored feedback were delivered to first-year college students over 9 weeks. Non- and low-risk drinking participants received risk prevention, while high-risk drinking participants received a risk-reduction intervention. Both intervention and control groups were surveyed at baseline and at a 3-month follow-up. Analysis showed positive effects for both men and women on stage of change, drinking behavior, drinking motivation and attitudes, and use of risk-reduction strategies. These results provided evidence of efficacy and found that M-PASS had both intervention and prevention effects, making it unique among currently developed brief alcohol interventions for college students.