Ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) communities on green roofs in Switzerland: synthesis and perspectives

Urban Ecosystems - Green roofs have recently gained recognition for their potential contribution to urban ecosystems by providing, among other services, habitat for plants and animals, and stepping...     

Rainfall interception capacity of tree species used in urban afforestation

Afforestation is inserted in the urban environment and interferes directly in the surface runoff. In order to quantify the rainfall interception by tree species, an experiment was carried out in the city of Uruaçu, Goiás, Brazil, with the four most common tree species in the urban afforestation of the region. The species chosen were the Mangifera indica (mango tree), the Caesalpinia peltophoroides (sibipiruna tree), the Pachira aquatica (munguba tree) and the Licania tomentosa (oiti). In order to register precipitation, ten pluviographs were used. They are capable of measuring precipitation over time in terms of duration, volume, and intensity. For events with a mean cumulative precipitation of 16.7 mm, the mean values of interception found in each species were: Mangifera indica - 8.0 mm; Pachira aquatica - 7.4 mm; Licania tomentosa - 7.2 mm; and Caesalpinia peltophoroides - 4.8 mm. The research confirms the importance of studies related to the identification of the species’ individual characteristics that interfere in the rainfall interception capacity and that can consequently contribute to urban drainage actions. In addition, it proves the existence of variations of rainfall interception in relation to rainfall events and during their occurrences and emphasizes the need for a careful definition of the species that will compose the urban afforestation.     

How to measure and proxy permanent income: evidence from Germany and the U.S.

Permanent income (PI) is an enduring concept in the social sciences and is highly relevant to the study of inequality. Nevertheless, there has been insufficient progress in measuring PI. We calculate a novel measure of PI with the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). Advancing beyond prior approaches, we define PI as the logged average of 20+ years of post-tax and post-transfer (“post-fisc”) real equivalized household income. We then assess how well various household- and individual-based measures of economic resources proxy PI. In both datasets, post-fisc household income is the best proxy. One random year of post-fisc household income explains about half of the variation in PI, and 2–5 years explain the vast majority of the variation. One year of post-fisc HH income even predicts PI better than 20+ years of individual labor market earnings or long-term net worth. By contrast, earnings, wealth, occupation, and class are weaker and less cross-nationally reliable proxies for PI. We also present strategies for proxying PI when HH post-fisc income data are unavailable, and show how post-fisc HH income proxies PI over the life cycle. In sum, we develop a novel approach to PI, systematically assess proxies for PI, and inform the measurement of economic resources more generally.     

Gender Roles and Internalized Sexual Stigma in Gay and Lesbian Persons: A Quadratic Relation

Purpose: No previous research has deeply investigated the association between gay men and lesbians’ adherence to gender roles and their internalized sexual stigma. This study suggests a potential non-linear correlation between these factors. Methods: Seventy-five gay men and 70 lesbians responded to self-report questionnaires. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to investigate linear, quadratic, and exponential models and to determine which model best explained the correlation. Results: The quadratic model best explained the correlation, showing no gender differences. Conclusion: Adherence to gender roles constitutes a relevant factor in predicting internalized sexual stigma.     

Birds of a feather petition together? Characterizing e-petitioning through the lens of platform data

E-petitioning platforms are increasingly popular in Western democracies and considered by some lawmakers and scholars to enhance citizen participation in political decision-making. In addition to social media and other channels for informal political communication, online petitioning is regarded as both a useful instrument to afford citizens a more important role in the political process and allow them to express support for issues which they find relevant. Building on existing pre-internet systems, e-petitioning websites are increasingly implemented to make it easier and faster to set up and sign petitions. However, little attention has so far been given to the relationship between different styles of usage and the causes supported by different groups of users. The functional difference between signing paper-based petitions vs. doing so online is especially notable with regard to users who sign large numbers of petitions. To characterize this relationship, we examine the intensity of user participation in the German Bundestag’s online petitioning platform through the lens of platform data collected over a period of five years, and conduct an analysis of highly active users and their political preferences. We find that users who sign just a single petition favor different policy areas than those who sign many petitions on a variety of issues. We conclude our analysis with observations on the potential of behavioral data for assessing the dynamics of online participation, and suggest that quantity (the number of signed petitions) and quality (favored policy areas) need more systematic joint assessment.     

An approximation to the convolution of gamma distributions

In general, the exact distribution of a convolution of independent gamma random variables is quite complicated and does not admit a closed form. Of all the distributions proposed, the gamma-series representation of Moschopoulos (1985 Moschopoulos, P. G. (1985). The distribution of the sum of independent gamma random variables. Annals of the Institute of Statistical Mathematics 37Part A:541–544. [Google Scholar]) is relatively simple to implement but for particular combinations of scale and/or shape parameters the computation of the weights of the series can result in complications with too much time consuming to allow a large-scale application. Recently, a compact random parameter representation of the convolution has been proposed by Vellaisamy and Upadhye (2009 Vellaisamy, P., Upadhye, N. S. (2009). On the sums of compound negative binomial and gamma random variables. Journal of Applied Probability 46:272–283.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and it allows to give an exact interpretation to the weights of the series. They describe an infinite discrete probability distribution. This result suggested to approximate Moschopoulos’s expression looking for an approximating theoretical discrete distribution for the weights of the series. More precisely, we propose a general negative binomial distribution. The result is an “excellent” approximation, fast and simple to implement for any parameter combination.     

A gradient-based deletion diagnostic measure for generalized linear mixed models

A gradient-statistic-based diagnostic measure is developed in the context of the generalized linear mixed models. Its performance is assessed by some real examples and simulation studies, in terms of ability in detecting influential data structures and of concordance with the most used influence measures.     

Cultural Attunement in Therapy With Mexican‐Heritage Couples: A Grounded Theory Analysis of Client and Therapist Experience

There is a need for culturally attuned approaches for couple therapy with Mexican/Mexican‐Americans. This qualitative grounded theory study utilized interviews with 11 client couples of Mexican heritage and 14 marital and family therapists to shed light on how Latino and non‐Latino therapists co‐construct positive experiences of cultural attunement with Mexican and Mexican‐American couple clients. Analysis identified a model of cultural connection through personal engagement with four interrelated phases: (a) mutual invitation, (b) shared engagement, (c) expanding personal connection, and (d) creating cultural connections. Clients in this study valued professionalism and expertise of the therapist, but felt attuned to and respected when therapists demonstrated humility, shared personal stories and emotion, and engaged in a collaborative process.     

Strengthening Purity: Moral Purity as a Mediator of Direct and Extended Cross-Group Friendships on Sexual Prejudice

The present research investigated whether enhanced perceptions of moral purity drive the effects of intergroup cross-group friendships on the intentions to interact with homosexuals. High-school students (N = 639) reported their direct and extended cross-group friendships with homosexuals as well as their beliefs regarding the moral character of the sexual minority. Participants further reported their desire to interact with homosexuals in the future. Results showed that both face-to-face encounters and extended contact with homosexuals increased their perceived moral purity, which in turn fostered more positive behavioral intentions. Results further revealed the specific role of moral purity in this sense, as differential perceptions along other moral domains (autonomy and community) had no mediation effects on behavioral tendencies toward homosexuals. The importance of these findings for improving intergroup relations is discussed, together with the importance of integrating research on intergroup contact and morality.