Genetic Diversity of Invasive Species in the Great Lakes Versus Their Eurasian Source Populations: Insights for Risk Analysis

Combining DNA variation data and risk assessment procedures offers important diagnostic and monitoring tools for evaluating the relative success of exotic species invasions. Risk assessment may allow us to understand how the numbers of founding individuals, genetic variants, population sources, and introduction events affect successful establishment and spread. This is particularly important in habitats that are "hotbeds" for invasive species--such as the North American Great Lakes. This study compares genetic variability and its application to risk assessment within and among three Eurasian groups and five species that successfully invaded the Great Lakes during the mid 1980s through early 1990s; including zebra and quagga mussels, round and tubenose gobies, and the ruffe. DNA sequences are compared from exotic and native populations in order to evaluate the role of genetic diversity in invasions. Close relatives are also examined, since they often invade in concert and several are saline tolerant and are likely to spread to North American estuaries. Results show that very high genetic diversity characterizes the invasions of all five species, indicating that they were founded by very large numbers of propagules and underwent no founder effects. Genetic evidence points to multiple invasion sources for both dreissenid and goby species, which appears related to especially rapid spread and widespread colonization success in a variety of habitats. In contrast, results show that the ruffe population in the Great Lakes originated from a single founding population source from the Elbe River drainage. Both the Great Lakes and the Elbe River populations of ruffe have similar genetic diversity levels--showing no founder effect, as in the other invasive species. In conclusion, high genetic variability, large numbers of founders, and multiple founding sources likely significantly contribute to the risk of an exotic species introduction's success and persistence.     

Content validation on the Work Performance Rating Scale for sheltered workshop workers

The purpose of this study was to revise the content of the Work Performance Rating Scale (WPRS) as a valid assessment tool for sheltered workshop workers. A focus group of 11 sheltered workshop workers was recruited to collect their opinions about the relevance of the WPRS from the service users' perspectives. A panel of 23 frontline practitioners who had experience in using various work assessment instruments provided at their work setting was recruited to review the content of the WPRS. A 14-item amended version of the WPRS with five new items added was proposed based on the opinions of service users, frontline practitioners, and the concept of the Minnesota Theory of Work Adjustment (MTWA). An expert panel of 12 professionals at the senior level from various vocational rehabilitation settings was recruited to comment on the content validity of the 14-item amended version of the WPRS. The expert panel agreed that the amended version of the WPRS was related to the concept of job satisfactoriness which could be used to assess the work performance of sheltered workshop workers. Thus, the use of the MTWA for improving the content validity of the WPRS to assess the employability of sheltered workshop workers was supported by the findings of the study.     

Getting the Fundamentals Right: Autonomization as a Reform and Governance Tool in the Case of the State Insurance Company Ltd. (SIC) in Ghana

The article is primarily a case study of the use of autonomization in the reform and restructuring of the State Insurance Company Ltd, an SOE in Ghana and addresses two main questions. (1) In view of the fact that the SIC has dual commercial and political objectives, is autonomization suitable for its reform? (2) Under what circumstances can autonomization actually promote efficiency and effectiveness in the proper management and functioning of the SIC? The findings point to answers for both questions. First, autonomization is a defective tool for reforming politically sensitive SOEs but better for non-politically sensitive ones. Secondly, the results point to genuine concerns that autonomization weakens the bonds of political accountability and increases fragmentation of government programs. Finally, the key words in the adoption and implementation of autonomization ought to be context, agency task-specificity and creative adaptation. It adds to the management literature on sub-Saharan Africa and to understanding the management context of Ghana.     

Specification tests for time-varying parameter models with stochastic volatility

We propose an easy technique to test for time-variation in coefficients and volatilities. Specifically, by using a noncentered parameterization for state space models, we develop a method to directly calculate the relevant Bayes factor using the Savage–Dickey density ratio—thus avoiding the computation of the marginal likelihood altogether. The proposed methodology is illustrated via two empirical applications. In the first application, we test for time-variation in the volatility of inflation in the G7 countries. The second application investigates if there is substantial time-variation in the nonaccelerating inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU) in the United States.     

Bidirectional Relations between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Children’s Behavioral Problems

Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal - Research has shown that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) increase the risk of poor health and well-being, yet less is known about the pathways through...     

Ordentliche Arbeiterkinder,konzentrierte Mittelschichtkinder?

Conscientiousness has proved to be one of the most important non-cognitive skills for success in the life course, especially in terms of education and employment. The development of this trait becomes therefore a subject of inequality research. Based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) a Structural Equation Model is estimated. The main question is whether the development of the child’s conscientiousness is determined by the mother’s personality or by their social origin and, furthermore, in how far these correlations are mediated by the mother’s parenting practices. In order to answer this question the differentiation between ability to focus and orderliness as two different facets of conscientiousness is of central interest. The facet ability to focus is the important one for stratification. Not only is it highly influenced by the mother’s personality, but to a similar extend the influence of social backround could be found. It could be shown, that the mother’s skill-oriented parenting practices similar to those described in the work of Lareau, partially mediate the effect of social backround on the childs’ ability to focus.     

Adult resilience among maltreated children: A prospective investigation of main effect and mediating models

Studies examining resilience to child maltreatment reveal that maltreatment victims can achieve adaptive functioning in several areas of development; however, few of these individuals persistently demonstrate resilience across multiple domains. The majority of these investigations define adjustment with a limited number of outcomes measured proximal in time to the maltreatment experience. In contrast, this study measured adjustment across a diverse set of domains during early adulthood (ages 16–24), a number of years after the occurrence of childhood maltreatment (ages 0–11).     

A Theoretical Perspective on Coping With Stigma

Stigmatized people have a vast array of responses to stressors resulting from their devalued social status, including emotional, cognitive, biological, and behavioral responses. This article uses existing theory and research on general stress and coping responses to describe responses to stigma-related stressors and to discuss the adaptiveness of these responses.     

Social status, values, and support for reform in education

Using a survey of Ohio and Indiana residents, we analyze the extent to which public support for school vouchers and school finance reform is structured by the same socioeconomic interests and values (equality, humanitarianism, individualism, and limited government) as is public support for contentious welfare policies. Disadvantaged individuals and individuals who live in disadvantaged communities are more likely to support vouchers but social status has a more ambiguous influence on support for finance reform. Values cannot explain the effect of social status on support for these education policies, but they exert independent effects. We speculate that disadvantaged individuals are more likely to see vouchers as in their interests than are advantaged individuals because voucher advocates have allied themselves with social movements and organizations representing clear constituencies (religious conservatives, low-income urban parents). On the other hand, we suggest that finance reform is more of an abstract issue because its advocates have mostly concentrated on intragovernmental litigation, and thus cleavages based on social status tend to be more obscured.