The importance of including habitat-specific behaviour in models of butterfly movement

Dispersal is a key process affecting population persistence and major factors affecting dispersal rates are the amounts, connectedness and properties of habitats in landscapes. We present new data on the butterfly Maniola jurtina in flower-rich and flower-poor habitats that demonstrates how movement and behaviour differ between sexes and habitat types, and how this effects consequent dispersal rates. Females had higher flight speeds than males but their total time in flight was four times less. The effect of habitat type was strong for both sexes, flight speeds were ~2.5x and ~1.7x faster on resource-poor habitats for males and females respectively, and flights were approximately 50% longer. With few exceptions females oviposited in the mown grass habitat, likely because growing grass offers better food for emerging caterpillars, but they foraged in the resource-rich habitat. It seems that females faced a trade-off between ovipositing without foraging in the mown grass or foraging without ovipositing where flowers were abundant. We show that taking account of habitat-dependent differences in activity, here categorised as flight or non-flight, is crucial to obtaining good fits of an individual-based model to observed movement. An important implication of this finding is that incorporating habitat-specific activity budgets is likely necessary for predicting longer-term dispersal in heterogeneous habitats as habitat-specific behaviour substantially influences the mean (>30% difference) and kurtosis (1.4x difference) of dispersal kernels. The presented IBMs provide a simple method to explicitly incorporate known activity and movement rates when predicting dispersal in changing and heterogeneous landscapes

Continual exposure to trauma in the emergency services: an investigation into the psychological effects on new recruits

The main aim of this study was to investigate the psychological effects of continual exposure to trauma on new recruits to the emergency services. Changes over a three-month period, in which trainee ambulance technicians were continually exposed to trauma, were measured in terms of anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress symptomatology, world assumptions, and perceived social support.Ten trainee ambulance technicians (treatment group) and eight ambulance administration staff (untreated control group) completed baseline measures, whilst the trainees were in training. Post-test measures were then completed after the trainees had been operational for one month and then again at three months. After three months of continual exposure to trauma, the trainees also completed a semi-structured questionnaire to provide qualitative insight into the trainees' experiences.The main findings of the study were as follows: Anxiety levels of the trainee ambulance technicians decreased significantly over the three months. Posttraumatic symptomatology levels also decreased significantly in the trainees between preexposure and three month of continual exposure to trauma. The use of positive reinterpretation and growth as a coping response to trauma increased significantly within the group of trainees. No significant differences were found in the measures of the untreated control group, indicating that the findings from the trainees were likely to be attributable to the effects of continual exposure to trauma. These results werediscussed in terms of the psychological impact that continual exposure to trauma had on the trainees. The strengths and limitations of the study, along with the clinical implications, and recommendations for future research were also presented

Perceptions of principals as to the degree of implementation and effect of the middle school concept in Louisiana

Turning Points: Preparing American Youth for the 21st Century (Carnegie, 1989) contained recommendations for improving middle level education. These recommendations included: (a) creating small communities for learning, (b) teaching a common knowledge core, (c) ensuring success for all students, (d) empowering teachers and administrators, (e) preparing teachers in middle grades, (f) improving academic performance through health and fitness, (g) re-engaging families in the education of adolescents, and (h) connecting schools with communities. The objectives of this study were to determine, according to middle school principals, the extent to which the Carnegie recommendations have been implemented in the public schools of Louisiana that serve students in grades six, seven, and eight. The study also sought to determine if the perceived level of implementation has a positive effect on student achievement as reported by Seghers (1995). Principals of 139 public middle level schools in Louisiana responded to the Middle Level Practices Questionnaire. Statistical analyses utilizing Analysis of Variance revealed significant differences in the perceived level of implementation of Carnegie\u27s recommendations by grade configuration in the Health Promotion subscale and by school setting in the Governance and Decision-Making and Safety and Resources subscales. There were no significant differences by socioeconomic status. Stepwise multiple regression analyses indicated significant relationships between Iowa Test of Basic Skills and Louisiana Educational Assessment Program index scores and the perceived level of implementation of the Carnegie recommendations in the Ability Grouping subscale. There were no significant relationships between student attendance and suspensions and the perceived level of implementation. A significant relationship between Governance and Decision-Making and student expulsions existed. A significant negative relationship existed between Health Promotion and teacher turnover. Conclusions. (a) Louisiana middle level schools have not fully implemented Carnegie recommendations; (b) school demographics do not make an overall significant difference in the perceived level of implementation; and (c) the implementation of selected components contributes to school and student success. Recommendations. (a) determining the most effective methods of staff development concerning implementation of the Carnegie recommendations; (b) comparing the level of implementation and student and school outcomes in states that have specialized middle level certification and those that do not; and (c) replicating this study utilizing a different survey instrument

Accommodating disability in higher education: a closer look at the evidence for a mainstream framework of learning support

In a recently published research article in this journal, Avramidis & Skidmore (2004) argued that it is time we placed issues of disability provision more in the context of provision for the generic student. They presented a study based on the Learning for All Questionnaire (LfAQ), which investigated certain implied issues. Findings indicated a need for improved educational provision for all students. No differences were found between disabled and non-disabled students in perceived level of needs or support for university, tutoring and lecturing systems. This null finding was the same for the learning support needs of disabled versus non-disabled students, with both groups wanting identical changes to the way the university's central learning support service responds to learning needs. These findings were taken as calling for a move away from a ‘specialist’ framework of disability provision and towards a ‘mainstream’ framework instead, in which the needs of disabled students are accommodated within improvements made in learning for all. Further, the Disabled Students' Allowance should be given over to departments in order to help fund this change in ‘institutional habitus’. In this article, four serious failings of the study and analyses are outlined. When these are addressed in a disability-theoretic reanalysis of the LfAQ data, every main finding is reversed. It is concluded that educational provisions are generally adequate. Students would welcome changes but these are more to do with increasing levels of convenience rather than learning support issues. Furthermore, the LfAQ data actually refute rather than support a mainstream framework of disability provision

Making Bicycling Comfortable: Identifying Minimum Infrastructure Needs by Population Segments Using a Video Survey

In this study, researchers use survey data to analyze bicycling comfort and its relationship with socio-demographics, bicycling attitudes, and bicycling behavior. An existing survey of students, faculty, and staff at UC Davis (n=3089) who rated video clips of bicycling environments based on their perceived comfort as a part of the UC Davis annual Campus Travel Survey (CTS) is used. The video clips come from a variety of urban and semi-rural roads (designated California state highways) around the San Francisco Bay Area where bicycling rates vary. Results indicate considerable effects of socio-demographics and attitudes on absolute video ratings, but relative agreement about which videos are most comfortable and uncomfortable across population segments. In addition, presence of bike infrastructure and low speed roads are the strongest video factors generating more comfortable ratings. However, the results suggest that even the best designed on-road bike facilities are unlikely to provide a comfortable bicycling environment for those without a predisposition to bicycle. This suggests that protected and separated bike facilities may be required for many people to consider bicycling. Nonetheless, the results provide guidance for improving roads with on-street bike facilities where protected or separated facilities may not be suitable.View the NCST Project Webpag

Graduate Students\u27 Perceptions of Academic Integrity Policies, Practices, Observations, Engagement, and Seriousness of Behaviors

The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to determine if differences existed between male and female graduate students regarding their perceptions, observations, and practices of academic integrity; and (2) to explore differences among graduate students by program areas regarding their perceptions, observations, and practices of academic integrity. Additionally, this study examined and explored graduate students\u27 responses to open-ended questions pertaining to changes in support of academic integrity and the role students should play in this process. This study was guided by twelve research questions and ten null hypotheses. Bandura\u27s social learning theory which established that patterns of behavior may be learned from observing others\u27 behavior, framed the study. The study included the analysis of an existing data set from a survey research design conducted by the Center for Academic Integrity. Mean scores were calculated for males and females and by program majors related to perceptions, observations, and practices of academic integrity. Nvivo8 was used to qualitatively analyze open-ended questions. Major findings from both quantitative and open-ended data were triangulated to aid in establishing conclusions

MESSAGE ON THE BOTTLE: COLOURS AND SHAPES OF WINE LABELS

Wine consumers rely mainly on the label on the bottle to infer the quality of its content. But there is little empirical research on how colours can be interacted with shapes in the design of wine labels. This study draws from an experiment using data from Spain and shows that there are strong preferences for selected colour-shape combinations in label design. Surprisingly, colour alone does not elicit as strong preferences as certain shapes do, at least when they are assessed irrespectively of the shapes featured in the label. Other combinations, on the other hand, are very resilient, especially those that contain colour hues, such as brown, yellow, black and green, in labels with salient rectangular and hexagonal patterns.wine labels, Marketing,

TOURNAMENTS, RISK PERCEPTIONS, AND FAIRNESS

This paper reports the results of an economic experiment investigating human subjects' preferences for two types of contracts tournaments and fixed performance standard contracts. Willingness to pay data was elicited through an auction and results suggest that subjects prefer fixed performance standard contracts to tournaments. Primary drivers of this result appear to be subjects' perceptions that tournaments are more risky and less fair than fixed performance standard contracts. Surprisingly, measures of the relative profitability of the contracts did not correlate with willingness to pay. Our results can shed light on why agricultural producers express frustration over tournaments and can provide insights on contract and policy design.Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,