The Development of a Physician Vitality Program: A Brief Report

We describe the development of an innovative program to support physician vitality. We provide the context and process of program delivery which includes a number of experimental support programs. We discuss a model for intervention and methods used to enhance physician resilience, support work‐life balance, and change the culture to one that explicitly addresses the physician's biopsychosocial‐spiritual needs. Recommendations are given for marriage and family therapists (MFTs) who wish to develop similar support programs for healthcare providers. Video Abstract     

Geopolitics and religion – a mutual and conflictual relationship. Spatial regulation of creed in the Baltic Sea Region

The geopolitical history of religion in the Baltic Sea area shows a development from the time of the Lutheran Reformation of a mosaic of states with very different jurisdictions of creed, from the tolerance under local containment of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to the strict Evangelical mono-religion of the Scandinavian countries. With seventeenth-century mercantilism, groups of skilled people of ‘foreign’ religion were invited to newly founded towns and ironworks in order to promote the economy. In the eighteenth-century enlightened absolute monarchs, defying both church and bourgeoisie, allowed groups of Catholics and Jews to Scandinavia under spatial restrictions on settlement. In Russia non-Russians of different religions were tolerated, while dissidents to the Orthodox Church were deported to peripheral places. With the Prussian territorial expansion in Germany, more groups were included into citizenship, including Jews. The last states to include groups of ‘foreign’ creed were the early nineteenth century semi-independent states of Norway and Finland.     

Migration,Small Farming and Food Security in the Caribbean: Jamaica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Long‐term and short‐term (seasonal) migrations from Caribbean countries have been strategies for enhancing the livelihoods and assets of individuals and families for many decades. The greatest challenges to food security are felt by the populations below the poverty level, most of whom are rural dwellers. Taking two Caribbean countries – Jamaica, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, this article assesses whether in rural, characteristically small‐farming areas, the financial and social remittances resulting from migration are used to improve food security, through either supporting agricultural production or providing money to purchase food. The findings show the contrast between Jamaica and St. Vincent. Whereas migration generally benefits small‐scale farming and domestic food production, increasing food accessibility in Jamaica, migration has been variously used by the rural poor in St. Vincent to replace farming. Food security in St. Vincent is heavily dependent on purchasing food and, in this regard, migrant remittances play an important role.     

Habitat use and activity patterns of urban-dwelling javelina

In Arizona, conflicts between homeowners and urban-dwelling javelina (Tayassu tajacu) continued to increase. Human-javelina conflicts often occurred when javelina responded to urban attractants and destroyed ornamental landscapes, injured pets, and frightened homeowners. This prompted initiation of a study during 1992–93 to develop recommendations to alleviate these conflicts. We captured, radio-collared, and located eight javelina from six herds to determine home ranges, habitat use, and activity patterns in Prescott, Arizona. Urban-dwelling javelina adjusted their home ranges, habitat use, and activity patterns to best use human-provided urban food, water, and cover resources. The most conspicuous of these adjustments was the increased nocturnal activity of urban-dwelling javelina to avoid human disturbances. Undeveloped land within or adjacent to Prescott provided javelina with daytime bedding areas and nighttime travel corridors. We determined that this issue was more a people problem than it was a javelina problem. Thus, strategies to resolve the conflicts must target homeowners.     

Playing the Recording Once or Twice: Effects on Listening Test Performances

Much debate surrounds the issue of whether allowing candidates to listen to recordings twice is more desirable in language tests than offering just one opportunity. Using regression models, this study investigates, analyses and interconnects both item difficulty and stimulus length in relation to the frequency of stimulus presentation and its effect on test results. The study involved 1,266 eighth-grade learners with perceived A2/B1 level in English as a first foreign language. The final discussion seeks to offer explanations for the results that clearly indicate the advantages of listening once; likewise, potential implications for listening tests and classroom practice are raised.