Forest soils adjacent to urban interstates: Soil physical and chemical properties,heavy metals,disturbance legacies,and relationships with woody vegetation

While urban ecology is an expanding field of study, some natural areas within the urban environment remain under-examined. These include naturally regenerating forest communities adjacent to urban interstates. In addition, the status of interstate soils and their relationships with the community composition of forested interstate verges has received little ecological study. The purpose of this study was to examine variation in soil conditions along forested interstate corridors in Louisville, KY and to explore the extent to which soil characteristics (e.g., bulk density, pH) and heavy metals (e.g., Pb, Zn) vary with respect to three factors: interstate (e.g., traffic density), surrounding urban environment (e.g., industrial land use), and interstate construction legacies. Additionally, we explored the relationships between several edaphic factors and woody vegetation structure in these forested verges. We found that the degree and direction of the slope of land towards the interstate and the distance to the interstate pavement were strong determinants of soil characteristics and heavy metal concentrations, suggesting that the movement of de-icing salts, heavy metals, and other pollutants from the interstate was important in determining forest soil conditions along urban interstates. Since within our study area these highways did not extend into rural lands, variation in urban land uses and cover within 26 km of the city center was not large enough to explain variation in soil characteristics or heavy metals, except for a positive correlation between chromium and surrounding industrial land use. We did find that past physical soil disturbance caused by interstate construction (e.g., imported fill) left an important legacy on soil characteristics, heavy metal retention, and woody plant growth patterns in forests adjacent to urban interstates. The legacy of interstate construction on the current forest community structure (e.g., lower species richness) and the future forest (e.g., reduced tree regeneration) may further alter ecosystem productivity and ecosystem services provided by these forests and their soils.     

From after-school to expanded learning: a decade of progress

Following a decade of rapid expansion of afterschool enrichment programs, leaders in the field are rethinking how those programs can be designed to play a larger role in supporting student achievement and development and in strengthening school reform initiatives.     

Social capital as social relations: the contribution of normative structures

This paper presents a framework for social capital that highlights the normative structures through which it is manifested. The primary focus is on the ways that norms structure the relationships in which social capital is embedded. To this end, we introduce four types of normative structures which condition social capital: market, bureaucratic, associative, and communal. A field site in Japan is used to illustrate how different aspects of social capital interact. This case analysis also serves to make an important distinction between the availability and use of social capital. The central arguments are that 1) social capital is organized in different ways by the normative structures in which it is embedded; 2) there are important interactions between these different aspects of social capital that are often overlooked by simpler frameworks; 3) a useful distinction can be made between available social capital and used social capital; 4) access to social capital can be used to analyze power relations; and 5) distinguishing different aspects of social capital makes areas visible that are overlooked by other understandings of social capital. We conclude by identifying the utility of our perspective for informing public policy and guiding future research.     

Precursors of Young Women's Family Formation Pathways

We used latent class analysis to create family formation pathways for women between the ages of 18 and 23. Input variables included cohabitation, marriage, parenthood, full-time employment, and attending school. Data (n = 2,290) came from Waves I and III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). The analysis revealed seven latent pathways: college-no family formation (29%), high school-no family formation (19%), cohabitation without children (15%), married mothers (14%), single mothers (10%), cohabiting mothers (8%), and inactive (6%). Three sets of variables distinguished between the groups: personal and social resources in adolescence, family socioeconomic resources and adolescent academic achievement, and conservative values and behavior in adolescence.     

Making it on the Outside: Understanding Barriers to Women’s Post‐Incarceration Reintegration

The increasing rate of imprisonment in the United States over the past few decades resulted in record numbers of individuals reentering society upon release. As men and women exit through prison gates, they encounter a range of obstacles that complicate their efforts to “make it” on the outside. Given the gendered impact of recent punitive prison policies, this essay focuses on women and traces their steps as they navigate the many complex, interrelated, and competing obstacles to successful reintegration post‐incarceration. In particular, this essay describes how many barriers, and women’s reentry experience more broadly, are shaped by gender, race, and class. Further, drawing on the feminist pathways perspective, we examine women’s reentry in light of their pathways into offending focusing, in particular, on their victimization history.     

Father Involvement and Children's Early Learning: A Critical Review of Published Empirical Work from the Past 15 Years

ABSTRACT

Parent involvement research predominantly focuses on the involvement of mothers in children's educational experiences, and rarely speaks to the role of the “other” parent – fathers. Yet, there is building interest in the role that fathers play in children's development, and how this role may be especially salient during early childhood and the transition into formal schooling. This review critically evaluates father involvement literature from 1990 to 2005 within this early childhood population. In particular, it provides systematic evidence that to some degree researchers have been responsive to recent critiques, and lays out a path of sampling, methodological and conceptual challenges still left to be tackled.     

The Relationship Between Spiritual Well-Being and Health-Related Quality of Life in College Students

Abstract

Objective: This study investigated the relationship between spiritual well-being (SWB) and various aspects of health-related quality of life (HRQL) of college students. Participants and Methods: Two hundred twenty-five participants were surveyed during October 2010 to assess SWB and HRQL using the Spiritual Well-Being Scale and questions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's scale for HRQL, respectively. Hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses tested the relationship between SWB and multiple measures of HRQL while controlling for sex, age, and race. Results: Participants who reported higher SWB scores were more likely to participate in religious-type activities and report better HRQL compared with students who reported a moderate sense of SWB. Jointly, SWB and participation in religious activities explained 18% of the variance in HQRL in this sample. Conclusions: SWB made a significant contribution to HRQL in a sample of college students. Such a relationship should be considered by campus health program planners to improve the quality of life of young adults.     

Behavioral Mimicry and Interaction Expectations Influence Affect in Interracial Interactions

Journal of Nonverbal Behavior - The current research tested how expectations and mimicry in an interracial interaction influence positive and negative affect. Existing research suggests that...