Ecology and conservation of strangler figs in urban wall habitats

Hong Kong’s rugged topography demands creation of developable land by reclaiming the harbor and terracing hillslopes. The vertical faces between adjoining hillslope-platforms are often stabilized by stone retaining walls. Such artificial cliffs embedded in the urban matrix, as a habitat analogue of rocky cliffs, have been colonized by spontaneous-ruderal vegetation. Detailed field assessment of 289 walls with 793 trees permitted in-depth analysis of this unique tropical urban ecology to inform conservation. The 28 stonewall tree species, mainly native, are dominated by six keystone and companion Ficus (Moraceae) species. They can develop into large cliff hangers >?20 m height on the apparently precarious and inhospitable walls. The many joints between masonry blocks provide opportunities for lodging and germination of seeds brought by frugivorous birds and bats. The aft-soil behind walls provides catchment for normal root functions. Beginning as pioneers and persisting as climax members, they short-circuit the seral processes. Wall-gripping capability as large epilithic woody hemi-epiphytes is due to the strangler-fig habit, an evolutionary trait that originated in the tropical forest. The polymorphic roots with morphological plasticity and self-grafting ability, and their multiple modes of interactions with wall niches, account for firm attachment on the vertical habitat and exploration of proximal soils. A model of strangler-fig growth on stone walls serving as surrogate host tree is developed. The diverse and versatile rooting modes are the basis to sustain strangler-fig wall conditions to permit continuation of strangler-fig habit. Such unique nature-in-city and natural-cum-cultural gems deserve conservation as urban ecological heritage.     

Is Pathological Gambling Moderated by Age?

The age of a patient is a strong moderator of both the course and the evolution of disorders/diseases. However, the effects of current age in pathological gambling (PG) have rarely been examined. The aim of this study is to explore the moderating effects of the patients’ current age in relation to personality traits and clinical outcomes of PG. A total sample of 2,309 treatment-seeking patients for PG, diagnosed according to DSM-IV criteria, participated in this study and were assessed with the Diagnostic Questionnaire for Pathological Gambling according to DSM-IV criteria, the South Oaks Gambling Screen, the Symptom Checklist, the Temperament and Character Inventory-R, and other clinical and psychopathological measures. Orthogonal polynomial contrasts showed linear trends in the relationship between age and PG: the older the patient, the more comorbid health problems were visible. The presence of additional quadratic trends also suggests that age plays a significant role in moderating the possibility of existing PG problems and general psychopathology. No interaction term was found between age and sex, but it was present for age and some personality traits: self-transcendence and reward dependence (these two traits were only relevant to the level of impairment due to PG at specific ages). This study suggests that the patients’ age influences psychopathological and clinical aspects associated to PG. Intervention in the earliest manifestations of this complex problem is essential in order to better address the need of successful treatment planning.     

Recommendations on the statistical analysis of the Comet assay

In 2010, the Statisticians in the Pharmaceutical Industry (PSI) Toxicology Special Interest Group met to discuss the design and analysis of the Comet assay. The Comet assay is one potential component of the package of safety studies required by regulatory bodies. As these studies usually involve a three-way nested experimental design and as the distribution of the measured response is usually either lognormal or lognormal plus a point mass at zero, the analysis is not straightforward. This has led to many different types of analysis being proposed in the literature, with several different methods applied within the pharmaceutical industry itself. This article summarises the PSI Toxicology Group's discussions and recommendations around these issues.     

Adults who grew up in care: constructing the self and accessing care files

Past research on care leavers has, understandably, tended to focus on those who are in their mid‐ to late‐teens or early 20s. This reflects the profound impact of central and local government policy on those young people. It also reflects their prominence in contemporary analyses of most of the indicators of social exclusion among young people in the UK – unemployment, homelessness and lack of educational qualifications among them. However, some issues affecting adults who grew up in care apply across the life course. One such issue is the access that former care adults have to their child care files. Indeed, as we shall see, this issue has particular importance for many older adults (in their 30s and upwards). Policy and practice in this field has changed significantly during the past 20 years and there is a growing awareness of the needs of former care adults in this area. Access to such files can be a significant element in the process of seeking to address identity concerns centring around family and childhood experiences. This paper explores some of these identity concerns and analyses how access to care files both reflects such concerns and attempts to address them.     

Some new international comparisons of productivity performance at the sectoral level

Summary. We present several new measures of gross-output-based total factor productivity (TFP) at the sectoral level for manufacturing industries in the G-7 economies. We calculate measures of both TFP growth and comparative levels. These are obtained by combining conventional Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development sectoral data on labour and capital inputs with data on intermediate inputs from national input–output tables. Additionally, we derive cyclically corrected measures of TFP growth. Our evidence shows that the considerable gap in TFP between the USA and other G-7 economies is closing but remains significant.     

Adolescent male prostitution by choice

The literature on adolescent male prostitution is scant. The few existing papers tend to focus on the status of adolescent runaways coerced into prostitution within large cities. This article describes prostitution in a midsized midwestern city without many of the anticipated preconditions. Such practice may be more common than is normally assumed.     

Meeting the Needs of Vulnerable Young Men: A Study of Service Provider Views

This article uses a qualitative approach to elicit the views of 31 professionals who provide services to vulnerable young men. The findings reveal six key themes following focus group interviews: (i) the importance of masculinity in explaining problematic behaviour; (ii) the misuse of alcohol and drugs; (iii) alienation and social isolation; (iv) concerns about suicide and self‐harm; (v) the quality of existing services; and (vi) recommendations for changes to services. Service providers generally acknowledged the social context in explaining these behaviours and argued for enhanced services and a more developed skills base in working with vulnerable young men.