Shrinking into the big city: influence of genetic and environmental factors on urban dragon lizard morphology and performance capacity

Urban Ecosystems - Urban wildlife faces a novel set of challenges resulting in selective pressure that can lead to population-level changes. We studied Australian water dragons (Intellagama...     

Social Contagion of Risk Perceptions in Environmental Management Networks

An important requisite for improving risk communication practice related to contentious environmental issues is having a better theoretical understanding of how risk perceptions function in real‐world social systems. Our study applied Scherer and Cho's social network contagion theory of risk perception (SNCTRP) to cormorant management (a contentious environmental management issue) in the Great Lakes Basin to: (1) assess contagion effects on cormorant‐related risk perceptions and individual factors believed to influence those perceptions and (2) explore the extent of social contagion in a full network (consisting of interactions between and among experts and laypeople) and three “isolated” models separating different types of interactions from the full network (i.e., expert‐to‐expert, layperson‐to‐layperson, and expert‐to‐layperson). We conducted interviews and administered questionnaires with experts (e.g., natural resource professionals) and laypeople (e.g., recreational and commercial anglers, business owners, bird enthusiasts) engaged in cormorant management in northern Lake Huron (n = 115). Our findings generally support the SNCTRP; however, the scope and scale of social contagion varied considerably based on the variables (e.g., individual risk perception factors), actors (i.e., experts or laypeople), and interactions of interest. Contagion effects were identified more frequently, and were stronger, in the models containing interactions between experts and laypeople than in those models containing only interactions among experts or laypeople.     

The study of commission rate problem in real-time bidding

This paper studies the commission rate in real-time bidding based on the generalized first-price auction mechanism. Firstly, the equilibrium bidding strategies are provided when there are fixed commission rate and the linear commission rate, which proves that if the there is no reserve price, the expected payment of DSP is not related to the rate of commission. The commission rate affects the equilibrium bidding strategies only. Secondly, this paper shows that if there are the reserve price and the commission, the payment of DSP is increasing on the commission rate. That is, if there is reserve price, the DSP cannot control the increasing of the expected payment by adjusting the equilibrium bidding strategy, when the commission rate increases. Finally, provided that the reserve price and commission rate are exogenous respectively, this paper draws to the conclusion that the conditions of optimal commission rate and the optimal reserve price must be satisfied.     

The Alternative-Conventional Agriculture Debate: Where Do Agricultural Faculty Stand?1

Abstract In recent years, publicly funded agricultural science at land grant universities (LGUs) has come under increasing criticism by those who argue that LGUs have contributed to an industrial mode of agriculture that is neither ecologically nor socioeconomically sustainable. The views of critics and defenders of modern industrial agriculture reflect two competing perspectives on agriculture—an alternative and a conventional paradigm. Utilizing a 24-item alternative-conventional agriculture paradigm (ACAP) scale, this study analyzes the paradigmatic positions of faculty in the College of Agriculture and Home Economics at Washington State University. Results reveal that the faculty are slightly more conventional than are farmers statewide, slightly less conventional than proponents of conventional agriculture, and far more conventional than known alternative agriculturalists. When looking at particular elements of the agricultural debate, however, the faculty tend to be more conventional than farmers on the socioeconomic elements of the competing paradigms but considerably less conventional on elements dealing with ecological and conservation issues. Women, younger faculty, non-land grant educated faculty, and faculty not raised on farms are somewhat more likely to endorse the alternative agriculture paradigm than are their counterparts. These differences are minor, however, compared to the differences across academic disciplines. Faculty of departments oriented to the social sciences (with the exception of agricultural economics) tend to most strongly endorse the alternative paradigm, while faculty from the more production-oriented departments and agricultural economics are the most conventional. Possible implications of the findings are discussed for the future of publicly-funded agricultural science.     

Conventional versus Alternative Agriculture: The Paradigmatic Roots of the Debate*

Abstract Analysts have described conflict between the economically dominant industrial sector of society and the environmental movement as representing competition between two opposing worldviews or social paradigms. There appears to be a similar schism developing in agriculture. The conventional paradigm of large-scale, highly industrialized agriculture is being challenged by an increasingly vocal alternative agriculture movement which advocates major shifts toward a more “ecologically sustainable agriculture.” Some have suggested that alternative agriculture represents a fundamentally new paradigm for agriculture. This paper seeks to clarify and synthesize the core beliefs and values underlying these two approaches to agriculture into a “conventional agriculture paradigm” and an “alternative agriculture paradigm.” The writings of six major proponents of alternative agriculture are compared with those of six leading proponents of conventional agriculture to document the major components of the two agricultural paradigms. The two sets of writings reveal dramatically divergent perspectives on a wide range of agricultural issues. The competing paradigms can be synthesized into six major dimensions: 1) centralization vs. decentralization, 2) dependence vs. independence, 3) competition vs. community, 4) domination of nature vs. harmony with nature, 5) specialization vs. diversity, and 6) exploitation vs. restraint. The emerging controversy over “low-input, sustainable agriculture” (LISA) illustrates the paradigmatic gulf between alternative and conventional agriculture, as well as the pitfalls facing alternative agriculturalists as they attempt to replace conventional agriculture as the dominant paradigm.     

THE GLOBALIZATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN AND THE LIMITS OF THE POSTMATERIALIST VALUES EXPLANATION: Evidence from Four Multinational Surveys

Conventional wisdom has long held that widespread citizen concern for environmental quality is limited to wealthy nations. Both academics and policymakers assume that residents of poor nations are too preoccupied with satisfying their "material" needs to support the "postmaterialist" value of environmental protection. This view was challenged by results of Gallup's 24-nation "Health of the Planet" (HOP) survey conducted in 1992, as the HOP found highly inconsistent and often negative correlations between national affluence and environmental concern. The current article compares results from three waves of the "World Values Survey" (WVS) to those of the HOP. When appropriate measures of environmental concern are employed, the WVS results generally replicate those of the HOP, as in all three waves such concern correlates inconsistently with national affluence. The overall results suggest that citizen concern for the environment is not dependent on national affluence, nor on affluence-based postmaterialist values.     

THE NATURE AND SOCIAL BASES OF PROGRESSIVE SOCIAL MOVEMENT IDEOLOGY: Examining Public Opinion toward Social Movements

Social movement scholars argue that movements within the same social movement family represent an ideologically coherent social force driven by an overarching master frame. Yet this claim has thus far been poorly documented. Analyzing public opinion data from a nationally representative April 2000 Gallup Poll, we find substantial evidence of a progressive social movement ideology centered around the extension of rights within the American public, as support for individual movements within this family is highly interrelated. Adherents to this progressive social movement ideology are drawn from self‐identified political Liberals and Democrats, the more highly educated, women, younger, and less religious adults. We argue that public opinion research should be seen as a valuable complement to existing case‐based social movement scholarship.     

Adoption Competent Clinical Practice: Defining Its Meaning and Development

The need for adoption competent mental health services has been well documented. However, the term “adoption-competent” has lacked a standardized, broadly accepted definition. This article reports findings from two related studies. The first examines how adoption competencies are demonstrated in practice by clinicians participating in an evidence-informed adoption competency training program. The second is an online survey designed to determine whether members of adoption kinship networks agree with a definition of an adoption competent mental health professional developed by experts. Both studies contribute to our understanding of what constitutes “adoption competent” clinical practice.     

Research on gender in demography: Limitations and constraints

This paper explores the issue of gender in demography, focusing on the question of why we don't know more than we do about the role of gender in demographic processes. Our lack of knowledge is partly explained by demography's research and policy focus on the two questions central to the field in recent decades, fertility decline and the relationship between economic and demographic change. The focus on these issues – sometimes at the expense of other research questions and issues – has meant that some social processes surrounding demographic change, including the role of gender, have not received the attention they deserve. Understanding gender's complex relationship to social behaviors, such as demographic behavior, requires attention to social/cultural context and to power. Demography needs to expand our knowledge of gender through the development of new research questions, research designs, and methodologies. Doing so will give us new insights into demographic processes.